


Dear Eugene

by dreaminginscenes



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - World War II, Blood, F/M, Fluff, Injury, Major Character Injury, New Dream, Varian and Catalina mention, World War II, and like zero actual character development, because they’re cute, but I just wanted to write fluff fluff fluff, horribly sappy, this is honestly really cringey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:42:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25075570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreaminginscenes/pseuds/dreaminginscenes
Summary: A World War II AU: Rapunzel, a nurse stationed in France, cares for a handsome soldier named Eugene. When circumstances force them apart, letters are all they have to keep them going.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 46
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the absolutely spectacular eugeneismyqueen!  
> EDIT NOTE: I was made aware of a glaring historical error with my dates that has been fixed. Sorry for the major mistake!
> 
> Minor disclaimer: I wanted to respect the subject matter, considering that this is a fan fiction. As such, I tried to avoid some sensitive materials and terms that would normally be used in real world scenarios. I felt more comfortable being vague about real events, people, and circumstances in the context of a fanfic. I apologize if there is anything uncomfortable about my narrative choices, I honestly mean no harm or disrespect!  
> That being said, I sincerely enjoyed writing a wartime love story inspired by one of my favorite fanfic authors. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

_Dear Eugene,  
That first spring evening  
You called me an angel  
How I wish I could be yours now_

December 2nd, 1944

After such a strenuous day, Rapunzel was more than relieved to see the infirmary tent finally beginning to settle. Nearly two dozen men had been dragged in after an explosion rocked the air that morning, meaning her day had been filled with moaning blood-soaked men all on the verge of meeting their maker. But with the setting of the sun came the calm of clean bandages and several avoided casualties. One poor soldier had to lose a mutilated leg, but she honestly preferred standing by the doctor during the procedure to having to cover his corpse with a sheet. A missing leg meant he got sent home, and surely there were many people who would be thanking the heavens for that blessing, two legs or not.

Rapunzel polished off the scissors she had been cutting bandages with. Until her current ward woke up and was able to give her an assessment on his current state of health, there wasn’t much else to do. With nothing more interesting to look at, she turned her gaze to the unconscious man in the cot. He had apparently seen the grenade before his fellow soldiers and protected several of them—obviously not the amputee, but nonetheless it must have been a heroic act. Especially considering how he had been one of the soldiers closest to buying the farm that day. Bandages covered the wounds across his torso and arms, leaving him looking rather comically like a motion-picture mummy. His face had been the luckiest in the ordeal; despite how close he had been to the explosion, he’d managed to make it out with only some scrapes and bruises across his chiseled features. Rapunzel could only imagine that there was more than one young lady back home who would be relieved to know that face was still intact so he could return to “active duty.”

She cocked her head and considered the face in question. He was rather handsome—if not a little dopey while he slept—but not a conventional handsome. Certainly not a Jimmy Stewart or a Bing Crosby. His cheekbones and nose were much too angular for the boyish charm of such actors. Possibly a bit of Gary Cooper, or even a smidge of John Wayne roguishness. Of course, none of those stars had facial hair, but who did nowadays? She’d seen a few David Niven mustaches in style before the war, but for obvious reasons those were no longer a thing. Goatees were definitely not within the realm of current fashion—or military grooming codes. Neither was considerably long hair. She would have chalked up his odd choice in hairstyle to simply a lack of access to proper grooming tools, but the trim of his goatee betrayed both the intention and a meticulous concern for his appearance. As much as she wasn’t a fan of facial hair, she had to admit it did frame his jawline quite well.

Rapunzel held her scissors up in the light, noting with satisfaction the perfect gleam off of them before setting them on the table with her other tools. She would have to sketch this uniquely handsome soldier later tonight; no one would believe her if she tried to describe him.

Said handsome soldier let out a long groan. He tried to turn his head, but only succeeded in flopping it over to the side. His eyes struggled to open even enough to peek out into the evening light.

Rapunzel resisted the urge to giggle; the soldiers were often quite groggy when waking up. With a delicate touch she straightened his head to look up, giving him a better view of the tent from his slightly propped position.

His eyes were barely open by slits, but he managed to focus on her face. Rapunzel offered him a smile, most likely a welcome sight after his harrowing experience.

Instead, his brow furrowed, “Crap.”

That wasn’t really the reaction she had been expecting. “Sorry?”

“I’m dead.”

Rapunzel blinked once, “What?”

“I’m dead,” he slurred. “I died, I’m dead. Holy sh—can I say that here? I shouldn’t say that in heaven. How did I get to heaven?”

“Hold on, hold on!” Rapunzel scooted closer into the soldier’s blurry line of sight, “What on earth makes you think you’re dead?!”

He refocused on her face, “Because you’re an angel.”

Rapunzel felt a blush bloom across her face. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard poorly-crafted pick-up lines of the same take from men in the infirmary, but this was the first time it had been said with complete and utter conviction. Enough to make her blush at the very least. He had taken one look at her and immediately thought he had died because she looked like an angel? _It must be the white uniform…_ She told herself. Or maybe he was just really good at acting. But the continued furrow in his brow told her otherwise; mister-oddly-handsome truly believed he was dead and that she was an angel.

Trying her best to shake off the rattle in her bones, she offered another smile that hopefully hid her embarrassment, “No…no sir, you’re not dead. You’re in the infirmary. You and your fellow soldiers were in line of a grenade, but you protected some of them and you’re all okay. Pete lost a leg, but otherwise he’s alive and well. You’re not dead, you’re in Southern France.”

The soldier kept staring, “….I don’t really believe you.”

Rapunzel shook her head with a laugh, “You don’t have to. Just get some rest and everything will eventually make sense.”

It seemed like he wanted to argue, but fatigue took over his senses once again and his eyes drooped shut. The rise and fall of his mummified chest assured Rapunzel that he was well asleep.

In fact, her own wave of exhaustion suddenly swept over her. And just in time, as Faith came to relieve Rapunzel’s position. A comment or two was made regarding the soldier’s hairstyle before Rapunzel excused herself and wound her way out of the tent and across the barracks to the ladies’ quarters. In record time she was changed and settled in her bunk with a dim lantern on the stand beside her.

Cass leaned over the side of the bunk to glare at Rapunzel, “Are you gonna turn that thing off sometime soon? It’s late, Raps.”

“In a minute,” Rapunzel responded absentmindedly, putting the finishing touches on her sketch.

Cass grumbled something about her having said the same thing half-an-hour ago before retreating back to the upper bunk. Rapunzel smiled to herself; no matter how annoyed Cass could be, Rapunzel knew her adopted sister was more than happy for them to have been sent to the same barrack. It certainly made the general horrors of being a war-time nurse a little less excruciating.

“Aaaand…there!” Rapunzel whispered with a last brush of her pencil across the sketched locks. Although she had only spoken with the soldier for a short time, she thought she had managed to capture his uniqueness. Her rendering had a bit of a heroic determination to his gaze, which was more or less conjecture on her part. He had saved some soldiers by putting himself in harm’s way, which suggested at least a sense of duty and compassion. But of course, knowing the men she was around every day, Rapunzel could be completely wrong about his character. Maybe he was actually a womanizer and a cad. But maybe not.

She tucked the slip of paper into her journal on the nightstand and finally killed the light, sending the crowded room into darkness.

The next morning she was a little surprised to be given the same position as the day before. However, as explained to her, Faith was concerned about one of the soldiers and specifically wanted Rapunzel to relieve her.

Rapunzel ducked into the tent, early morning light leaking through the cloth walls to bathe the room in a friendly glow than the previous day. The soldiers from yesterday’s incident all seemed to be rousing and generally alright. All except for the one by Faith, who wrung her hands in her uniform and shuffled back and forth in obvious discomfort.

“What’s wrong, Faith?” Rapunzel inquired as gently as she could. The young girl was easily startled, but nevertheless Rapunzel didn’t want to take lightly whatever had set her off.

“The soldier, he wouldn’t stop babbling all night!” Faith bit her lip in an attempt to stave off her anxious tears.

A bubble of frustration pricked at Rapunzel’s gut, although she did her best to push it down, “A lot of soldiers talk in their sleep, Faith. I’m sure he’s fine.”

“But—but he kept talking about an angel, and being dead, and—” Faith glanced back to the prone soldier on the cot, “…it just scared me…”

The annoyance Rapunzel had felt gave way to the usual sisterly concern she felt for Faith. She wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze, “I know; the night shift can be a little scary. Why don’t you go have breakfast and get some rest? You did great, and I’m sure he’s just fine.” Rapunzel let a coy smile cross her lips, “To tell you the truth, he actually thought he had woken up dead yesterday, so I’m not terribly surprised about his late-night ramblings.”

Faith giggled despite her frazzled nerves, “Then I guess the angel he meant must have been you.”

“I blame the uniforms.”

“Or,” Faith returned the sly grin, “maybe because you’re just so pretty!”

“Oh hush! Now get on out of here before I put you to work on something!”

With a final giggle, Faith scampered out of the tent, her fears apparently gone. Rapunzel turned to the soldier, still fast asleep despite the bustle. A quick finger to his wrist assured her his heart rate was normal, and a hand to his forehead indicated only a slight fever. A cold towel would fix that right up.

Having gathered her supplies, Rapunzel wrung a towel of the excess ice water. She propped the soldier’s head back up from where it had lolled over yet again, triggering a sleepy moan from him. At least he was showing some signs of consciousness. She laid the icy towel over his forehead.

At the flash of cold, the soldier’s eyes snapped open sudden enough to make Rapunzel jump. He didn’t flail or struggle, as rudely-awoken soldiers were wont to do. His eyes darted around the room, taking in his surroundings with frantic comprehension before landing on Rapunzel. His brow furrowed again, much the same way as it had the day before.

Rapunzel repressed the urge to roll her own eyes, “No, you’re not dead. No, I’m not an angel. Yes, you can cuss.”

He blinked a few times before her explanation seemed to finally settle in his brain, “I‘ve asked you that before, haven’t I?”

“And apparently you’ve been rambling about it all night too.”

The soldier nodded once, still apparently wrapping his mind around what must have been a very hazy 24 hours, “You’re sure I’m not dead?”

“Positive.”

“Really? Because…” a very smarmy grin etched across his chiseled features, “You _do_ look like an angel.”

Rapunzel shot him a glare.

Flustered shame bloomed across his face with a grimace, “Sorry…sorry, that was rude. I’m sorry…”

 _At least he apologized,_ “Apology accepted. I’m just glad to see you’re able to form coherent sentences.”

“Well it’s not often I get such diligent treatment in this tent.”

“Considering how you got blasted in the face yesterday, we couldn’t very well leave you to rot by yourself.”

“My face?!” His bandaged hand flew to his nose, “I’m—how’s my nose?!”

Rapunzel cocked an eyebrow, “Perfectly fine. But shouldn’t you be more worried about the rest of your body that’s covered in bandages?”

“This nose is a _gift._ I gotta protect my assets.”

A burst of laughter escaped Rapunzel before she could manage to quiet herself, with a number of glares from the other nurses shot her way.

The soldier cocked his head in confusion, “Why’d you stop?”

Rapunzel cleared her throat in an attempt to regain civility, “The medic tent is no place for that, that’s why.”

His stare bored into her as though attempting to pick apart some puzzle she couldn’t see on her own face, “That’s too bad,” he said after a long minute of perusal, “You have a beautiful laugh.”

Rapunzel almost brushed aside the comment, but something in his stare told her to not take his word for granted. “Um…thank you?”

“Plus,” he flashed her a dazzling white smile, “I kinda have a thing for brunettes.”

It seemed his sincerity only went so far. Rapunzel scowled again, although the soldier seemed to have caught himself already.

“Sh— I’m sorry! Old habits die hard, I guess.” He rubbed a hand across his face as though trying to wipe away the treasonous grin.

Rapunzel rolled her eyes; he was going to be an interesting ward for the next few days, between lame attempts at flirting and flustered apologies. Probably more annoying than it was charming.

….maybe it was a little charming. A little.

She fought back the sudden knot in her stomach and snatched a roll of white bandage from her supplies. “Can you sit up? I need to change your wrappings.”

The soldier glanced down at his torso, “Maybe?” He gripped the sides of the cot and pushed with a grunt; to no avail. Despite the strain across his face he didn’t lift himself more than a few inches from the cot.

“Here, let me help,” Rapunzel slipped her hands beneath him and lifted. With a huff of significant effort he managed to sit up at last.

“What did I _do_ to myself?” The soldier grumbled. “I can’t even sit up right…”

“You pulled a few muscles, and you have several burns—”

“Rhetorical question,”

Rapunzel pursed her lips, “You want my help or not?”

He returned her glare with a groan, “Fine…”

With his reluctant permission, Rapunzel positioned herself behind him and began undoing the wrappings. He winced as the cloth pulled away from his tender skin. Such a reaction wasn’t uncommon, but for whatever reason Rapunzel was stabbed with a pang of guilt.

“So…” She searched desperately for any line of conversation, something to distract him from the mounting discomfort, “Why did you jump in front of that grenade?”

“You heard why,” he responded through gritted teeth. “The guys were in the way, and I had a split second to get them out.”

“Well yes,” Rapunzel wasn’t sure of the answer she was fishing for from him, “But…why?”

He was silent for a long while; long enough that Rapunzel thought maybe he wasn’t comfortable giving her a response, or that he couldn’t think of one to her prying question. That is, until he let out a sigh that made the burns and scars now exposed across his back stretch in a way that made her stomach churn. “They’re good men; they have things to keep fighting for back home. I guess I couldn’t rationalize putting whatever I think I deserve over that.”

Rapunzel’s hands halted their work, suddenly taken quite aback. “That’s…that’s very noble.”

His shoulders gave a minuscule shrug, as much as his wounds would allow, “Or fatalistic.”

Despite herself, a smile crossed her lips, “That’s a five-dollar college word if I ever heard one.”

“Surprised I’m more than just a pretty face?”

Rapunzel huffed with amusement, “Maybe.” She bundled up the now-removed bandage and dropped it in the refuse bin. “Now can I get a name with that pretty face?”

The soldier glanced over his shoulder, a twinkle in his eye, “Eugene. Eugene Fitzherbert.”

“Hm, I like it. Sounds like a hero from a Jane Austen novel.”

“What, you think it sounds like Fitzwilliam Darcy—oh yeah, I hear it.” He cocked an eyebrow to her, “And might I get the name of my diligent nurse as well?”

Her smile grew despite herself, “Rapunzel.”

“…Gesundheit?”


	2. Chapter 2

_Dear Eugene,  
I’ll always keep my promise_

“You sure you’re gonna be alright?”

“For the umpteenth time, _yes Lance,_ ” Eugene scowled at his friend from the cot.

Lance held up a defensive hand, “Fine, fine. Don’t flip your wig. Just making sure you’re not bored out of your skull in here.”

Eugene huffed a flop of hair from his eyes, “Well I am bored, but there’s not much I can do about that. I can’t exactly hold a book with my arms still wrapped up.”

Lance lifted his cap and wiped away the few beads of sweat. The medic tent was increasingly stuffy in the unusually warm early winter. It was still chilly, but just warm enough to make the tent uncomfortable much to Eugene’s wrapped-up dismay. “It still hurts to bend your arms?”

“Yeah; my nurse doesn’t want me straining while the burns are healing.”

“The little brunette?” A devilish grin played across Lance’s face, “She’s a looker, isn’t she? Maybe I’ll swing by when she’s finishing her shift. Don’t worry, I’ll play up the ‘concerned friend’ act for you.”

Eugene’s scowl deepened, this time at Lance’s insensitivity, “Come on, man. Don’t bother her like that. She’s working hard enough without having to fend off creeps.”

Eugene had been quite the flirt most of his life, finding immense pleasure in making a young woman blush or swoon with a few sweet words. But over the last week, such bravado became increasingly repulsive to him. He had never thought too much about the flippant comments he would make to women, until Rapunzel—his ever faithful nurse—had given him a glare that could kill a small rodent. Right then he had questioned everything about his nature; why on earth did he think it was okay to make such remarks to someone who had literally saved his life?

Of course, he hated to admit it but the way her freckles scrunched across her nose when she glared at him was really, _really_ adorable…Not that he would ever tell her that.

On top of her occasional death-glares at his insensitive remarks, Eugene had watched first hand as the parade of soldiers that came through the tent day-in and day-out did nothing but harass the women gracious enough to make sure they didn’t die of infection or generally suffer innumerable pains. Honestly, it was disgusting to witness. More than once he had tried to stop one the soldiers, but was often met with a snide remark about getting soft from being surrounded by _these women._ Comments like that greatly tempted him to ignore all of Rapunzel’s warnings about his sensitive skin and strangle one of his camp-mates.

Lance shrugged his shoulders with a chuckle that brought Eugene out of his thoughts. “Whatever. But I know why you actually want me to stay away from her.”

 _Uh huh, sure you do._ “And what reason is that?”

“Because you wanna hog her for yourself, Lover Boy.”

Heat flared through Eugene’s nerves up to the tips of his ears, “No! I just don’t want to have to explain why I’m best friends with a weirdo like you!”

Lance’s chuckle deepened to a hearty laugh, “You keep telling yourself that! But before you go and ask her on a date, you better make sure she’s not already rationed off. I wouldn’t be surprised if a little cutie like that has a beau or two out in the field that she’s writing letters to.”

Eugene’s gut dropped to his feet; he hadn’t even considered the notion that Rapunzel might very well have a boyfriend already. A bright, intelligent, witty, _beautiful_ girl like her? He was an idiot to think she hadn’t already been snatched up.

Wait no. Why would he even think that? He wasn’t considering anything regarding Rapunzel. She was just his nurse. Who kept him company when he couldn’t fall asleep and talked with him for hours. And spent her breaks helping Faith change his bandages. And made him laugh in a way he hadn’t since he was deployed. And brightened up the room every time she walked in. And—

 _Nope, no, snap out of it,_ Eugene mentally kicked himself. He was a soldier, she was a nurse, and that’s all there was to it. There was no point getting attached when he might very well be shipped out at a moment’s notice, or she could get sent home.

And aside from all that, the very notion of damaging the friendship they had cultivated over the past week by making a serious pass at her churned his stomach to bits. He’d much rather go on as they had instead of entertaining the possibility of taking their friendship a step further.

With a start he realized he’d been silent for a long moment, leaving Lance’s impish grin to widen as his theory regarding Eugene proved very true. Eugene rolled his eyes rather dramatically. “Oh you would _love_ for me to have my heart broken by some girl who’s already engaged, wouldn’t you? Well it ain’t gonna happen, so wipe that stupid grin off your face.”

“Or what? You can’t make me; not with your poor little baby arms,” Lance taunted.

“No, but I could easily send a letter back home telling you-know-who about those twins last month.”

Lance’s grin immediately dropped, “You wouldn’t.”

Eugene picked up the grin with relish, “Oh, I would.”

Lance straightened his uniform with an indignant huff, “I guess I’ll leave you to it then, Eugene. If you’re up for it, we’re having a poker night tomorrow. I could always get Stan to bring the boys in here.”

Eugene shrugged, “Eh, maybe. I don’t know, it hasn’t been the same since Pete left.”

A solemn silence fell over the pair. As relieving as it was that Pete had survived the blast despite Eugene not being able to make it to him in time, it had been difficult to watch their fellow soldier leave with one less limb than he started out with.

Lance clapped Eugene on the shoulder, making the bandaged man wince slightly, “I’ll come by tomorrow and see how you’re doing. If you’re feeling good, then the offer will still be on the table.”

At that moment Rapunzel ducked into the tent, a beam of sunlight following at her feet. “Morning, everyone!”

A chorus of greetings came up in response. Whatever Lance had to say next was now completely irrelevant to Eugene. Even if he had tried, he wouldn’t have been able to resist watching her glide from station to station, chatting with soldiers and nurses. As it was, all he wanted to do was watch as the sunlight itself seemed to obey her very fingertips and dance in the air. Any gloom that had shrouded the occupants was chased away by one glimpse of her revitalizing smile.

Lance, glancing back and forth between the wide-eyed Eugene and Rapunzel, shook his head with a sigh, “You’re absolutely hopeless.”

“Did you say something?” Eugene asked, clearly still distracted.

“Nevermind…”

After greeting most everyone—some several times over—Rapunzel finally wove her way through the cots and stations to Eugene’s. “And a good morning to you! Who’s your friend here?”

Eugene struggled to keep the butterflies in his stomach from getting out of control, “Rapunzel, this is Lance, one of my childhood buddies. Lance, Rapunzel.”

Lance plastered on his trademark grin and kissed the petite nurse’s hand, “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss. I trust my pal here hasn’t driven you absolutely stir crazy?”

Rapunzel giggled—probably the most beautiful sound Eugene had ever heard, “No, not yet. Give it another day, then we’ll see where we stand on the crazy-scale.”

Land sakes, even when she was making fun of him it was incredible, “Hey, I’m right here, Peanut Gallery.”

Rapunzel’s eyes lit up in mock surprise, “Oh Eugene! My goodness, did you hear that? How awful of me!”

Eugene wanted desperately to continue the banter with a well-time retort, but he couldn’t even manage to keep from smiling like an idiot. The best he could do was not babble incoherently.

Lance tipped his hat again, this time in courtesy to the young lady. “Well I best be on my way so you can tend to the infirm here. Eugene,” he shot Eugene a smug wink, “Best behavior now.” With that cryptic message, Lance turned on heel and set out into the morning air.

Rapunzel turned a quizzical brow to Eugene, “What was _that_ supposed to mean?”

“Lance being Lance, just ignore him.”

“Will do; now up-up-up! You know the drill.”

Eugene sighed in dismay at this part of their routine. Thankfully his muscles had recovered enough that sitting up was no longer the ordeal it had been, but his tenderly healing skin still burned with the effort.

Rapunzel bit her lip at Eugene’s wince. He hated making her worry; his stomach twisted in knots seeing her look so concerned. He forced a grin that hopefully hid the true extent of his lingering pain.

She wasn’t the least bit fooled; why would she be? She was his nurse, she knew perfectly well his condition. No fake smile was going to hide that from her. She took her usual spot behind him and began working at the bandages as she did every day.

“The burns are looking significantly better,” she commented over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t have to be cooped up in here much longer.”

Why did his heart pang at the good news? “Great,” his voice came off far too sullen for her to not notice.

“Eugene? You okay?”

He swallowed hard. A sudden fire had taken over his nerves. “Yeah…yeah. Just a little tired I guess.”

She hummed behind him, seeming to take the excuse as a good enough explanation. “I’m sorry; restlessness keep you awake?”

“Probably that; and the fact that you neglected to come by last night. You threw off my rhythm.”

She stifled a laugh with a snort and playfully smacked the back of his head—her usual sign of “affection” towards him. “I’m not your nanny; I don’t have to watch you every second of the day.”

“But I’m so fun to watch! I sit, I lie down, I sleep; who wouldn’t want to waste their day with so much activity?” They shared a chuckle, which he could now do without pain shooting through his eyes. “Out of curiosity, what were you up to last night?”

“Nothing, really. I just did some sketching and went to bed early,”

He cleared his throat, wondering about his next question, “That’s not…maybe…code for something, is it?”

Rapunzel’s fingers stopped their work along his back, “What could that possibly be code for?”

“I mean, you’re not just saying that because you actually had a date and you don’t wanna tell me because I’ll make fun of you?”

“…Would you make fun of me if I had a date?”

“Probably,”

Eugene felt her fingers resume their work with a chuckle from her.

“…so…did you have a date?”

Rapunzel let out an audible scoff of disbelief, “No! I would have told you that! If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you my sketches from last night.”

Eugene tried to ignore the wave of relief that swept over him. “I’d want to see those even if I didn’t question your honesty.”

“So you admit you think I’m a liar!”

“Maybe a little!”

She dissolved into giggles that attracted the disapproving stare of several nurses, but Eugene could hardly care. The first time he had heard her laugh was amazing, and she had only done it more every day that he’d known her. If he did nothing worthwhile during his days in the infirmary, he at least made the most amazing woman on earth laugh.

It didn’t take long for her to finish her task, having grown quite adept at wrapping the gauze efficiently. The pair was soon sitting side by side on the cot, Rapunzel’s papers of sketches scattered on the cotton between them.

“Oh yeah, that’s Cassandra,” Eugene examined a portrait on the cot of a sour-faced young woman, “At least, that’s how _I_ know her.”

Rapunzel flipped through her various papers, searching for another to show off. “You just had that one bad interaction with her; she’s really not that cold.”

“‘One bad interaction,’ she flipped me over on the floor!”

“Because you were putting up a fight!”

“I had my reasons, and they were perfectly valid,” he glanced again at the sketch, “But aside from that, I can’t believe how accurate that looks. I swear it’s like she’s about to tell me off again.”

Rapunzel blushed at the compliment. Had he known how much more wonderful it was to make a pretty girl blush from a sincere compliment than a two-bit pick-up line, Eugene would have adopted the habit a long time ago. The pink speckled remarkably among her freckles, especially along her nose. He had started to count them, but lost count at freckle 35. That was the one under her right eye, barely hidden by her lashes; the moment he discovered it he had become so mesmerized he had stared for far too long.

“Let’s see…” she mumbled, rummaging through the papers so as to avoid accepting the compliment, “Here’s one I did of Pete last night, and this is one of the Stabbingtons. I don’t know which one, I can never remember their names.”

“We usually call them Patchy and Burnsy.”

“Burnsy?”

“Short for ‘side-burns’.”

“Ah, I see.”

Eugene studied the portrait of Patchy. A thought gnawed at the back of brain, “How do you know the Stabbingtons?”

She met his eyes with a shrug, “I’m a nurse; I know everyone.”

“I mean…you haven’t had one-on-one conversations with them, have you?”

“A couple times,” Rapunzel studied Eugene’s mounting concern. “Why do you ask?”

Eugene pursed his lips, still focused on the portrait of the scarred man, “They just…rub me the wrong way. I don’t know what it is, but they do.”

Rapunzel’s fingers fidgeted with the blanket. Eugene could feel her stare on him, but his attention was still focused on the portrait. He had no logical reason to dislike the Stabbington’s; they did their work, and so long as no one bothered them they stayed out of the way. But still something felt off to him.

Rapunzel swallowed hard, “One of them asked me on a date once.”

A shock of ice ran through Eugene’s veins, “Wait, what?!”

“It was before ‘Patchy’s’ accident, so I don’t know which one it was. I was busy that night, but I told him I’d take a rain check. He’s never cashed it in. Considering what you’ve said, then maybe that’s a good thing.”

The Stabbington’s alone with Rapunzel; it was far too easy for Eugene to imagine what either of them would do to a young woman like her. They were two of the brasher men in the company. Not cocky or arrogant, but if anyone was going to toe the line of morals and civility, it would be one of them. “It’s…probably best if you try to avoid them.” His voice was low in the muffled tent; rumors didn’t need to spread about his distrust of members in their company.

Rapunzel, thankfully, seemed to understand and only nodded an affirmation.

“But, humor me, _would_ you have accepted a date from one of them?” Eugene joked as best as he could through his lingering nerves.

Rapunzel gagged, “Ugh, no. I mean, maybe when I first started out I might have been that naïve, but now I would never go on a date with guys like that.”

 _Oh…so she’s willing to accept dates?_ Eugene bit back the hopeful surge in his stomach.

“Besides,” her voice dropped low as she bit her lip quite sheepishly, “I’ve never even been on an actual date.”

A victory parade burst with rounds of trombones and confetti in Eugene’s brain. No dates meant, more than likely, no boyfriend. Not that he was excited about that. At all. “Wh—really?” Why were words suddenly so hard to form? “You’ve never been on a date?”

Rapunzel huffed in annoyance, “No need to sound so incredulous.”

“Well well, look who’s using the five-dollar college words now!”

Her attempt to look annoyed failed miserably, betraying her smile, “Well when you grow up in a small apartment in Rome New York with a mother who never lets you go outside, it’s a little difficult to meet people.”

Eugene’s eyes snapped wide, “You’re from Rome?”

“Yeah?”

“ _I’m_ from Rome!”

“What?!”

An overly joyous laugh escaped Eugene. “How have we never run into each other?!”

Her laughter matched his in vigor, “Rome’s not small! Plus, remember? Overprotective mother?”

Eugene raised an eyebrow in question, although he couldn’t stop smiling. “You’ve mentioned that before; what do you mean she never let you outside?”

“I mean she literally never let me outside. We lived way up on the top floor of an apartment building. She never let me and Cass go outside the apartment, let alone the building.”

The smile dropped from Eugene, “Why?”

Rapunzel’s gaze fell to a crumple in the blanket by her knee, “I don’t know, honestly. She always said the world was dark and cruel, but I don’t understand why we had to be locked away. Dead bolts and padlocks don’t keep the world from coming to you.”

A long pause fell in her words that Eugene didn’t dare stir. If she wanted to continue, he would let her. But he wouldn’t push her to it.

“She…she passed away when I was almost eighteen. Polio. She came home from work one day saying she didn’t feel well, and the next morning she was gone.” Rapunzel wicked away a tear brimming on her lash.

Screw his own pain; he refused to let her sit through this alone. Despite his own skin screaming at him to stop, Eugene forced his hand forward to clasp hers.

She must have known the effort that simple movement took, as her fingers stroked over the wrappings around his wrist as though her touch could heal his pain. It didn’t take much for him to believe it could. “That’s honestly not what bothers me anymore,” her voice was thick with restrained emotion. “I can accept death; it’s just a part of being human. But…when Cass and I were going through her things…I always knew I was adopted. I thought she had just gotten me from the orphanage,” her jaw clenched, “But it seems that was something else she lied about.”

“What did you find?” Eugene whispered.

Rapunzel took a deep rattling breath, “Newspaper clippings about a kidnapping, drafts of ransom notes…”

Eugene’s breath hitched in his throat; that was definitely not an explanation that had been within his realm of possibilities.

“It seemed like the cops must have scared her from pursuing an actual ransom out of anyone, so she just up and left for New York with me and Cass.

“Rapunzel, I’m so sorry,” He hadn’t possibly imagined such an uplifting person could have so dark a history, but now he knew the woman who brought so much light in his life was haunted by a myriad of her own shadows. Yet to him, it only made her light shine that much brighter.

Rapunzel sniffled, “It’s okay, really. As soon as she passed, Cass and I signed up as nurses and hopped on the first boat for Europe. Maybe someday I’ll get to find my real family, but it won’t be any time soon. In the meantime, I have Cass, and,” her tear-stained eyes met his, “I have you.”

Family; the word was foreign to Eugene. He had never cared much for the concept as an orphan, but hearing it from her brought new meaning to the phrase. Family; connection; stability; maybe those weren’t such bygone dreams.

Eugene squeezed her hand, “You’ll always have me, Rapunzel. I can promise you that.” Maybe he hadn’t kept many promises in his life, but this was one he would take to his grave.

She returned the firm grip, “Thank you, Eugene. And I promise you the same thing.”

He had assumed so, but it choked his throat with indescribable emotion to hear it from her.

Rapunzel wiped away the few remaining tears on her own cheeks, “So, I’ve told you my entire life story, why don’t you return the favor?”

Eugene shook his head with a chuckle, “Eh, not that much to tell. You’re probably better off not hearing the sad story of poor orphan Eugene Fitzherbert.”

Rapunzel shoved aside the drawings littering the space between them and scooted closer. She set her head in her hands with the most expectant eyes he’d ever seen, complete with a little flutter of her lashes that proved impossible to resist.

However, his own history was not necessarily something he wanted Rapunzel to be privy to. Not all of it, at least. He wanted to be honest, yes, but he also knew that when she learned the truth, that notion of family she had offered would shatter before his eyes.

For a split second he had actually fooled himself into believing he was someone different. Rapunzel had changed him drastically in only a week, but he knew in his gut that some things never actually change. No matter how different he was from his past, he would never be able to separate himself from it.

His closeness to her suddenly felt like an unholy violation of purity. Curse his broken body; he couldn’t remove himself from her of his own volition. Could he move freely, he would have been tempted to run from the tent in an attempt to shield her from himself.

But he was stuck, and she was waiting for the truth. And no matter how much it hurt, lying to her would have made him the very basest of sinners. Eugene steeled himself for the inevitable betrayal he would cause her.

“Well, Lance and I grew up in an orphanage until we were about twelve, then we ran off. Got into some gangs to survive; spent most of our time thieving and robbing; did some time, then got drafted.” He made a point to avoid her eyes. “Like I said, not much to tell.”

To his utter shock, Rapunzel’s hand brushed his knee. “At least you had Lance.”

Eugene dared to meet her emerald gaze; there was no hatred, no repulsion.

It was utterly confusing.

“How are you not completely creeped out by me?” He asked with complete sincerity; why wasn’t she already sprinting a mile and half from him?

She raised an eyebrow—as though she was the one who had the most reason to be confused. “Because I know that’s not who you are anymore, Eugene. You’re thoughtful, compassionate, heroic. You saved your friends’ lives last week. That’s something only a good man would do.”

“I jumped in front of that grenade because I have nothing worthwhile to give back to anyone. They all have people depending on them; they’re already good men. I’m the one who’s the least valuable. So yeah, of course I jumped in front of that grenade, because at least that was the one worthwhile thing I could do with my life.”

“Don’t talk like that, Eugene,” Rapunzel’s face turned steely, a new expression for her. “You had some difficulty in your past but that doesn’t make you less valuable as a human being. Tell me, did you ever intentionally hurt anyone that wasn’t in self-defense?”

“Like just attacking someone? No, of course not.”

“Did you ever take something from someone that they desperately needed? Did you ever steal from people who couldn’t survive without what they had?”

“No.”

“Then I still think you’re a good man, even if you haven’t made the best choices. A selfish man doesn’t consider others to have greater worth than he does. A good man is willing to put his neck on the line if another is in need. And that’s what you did. Maybe your reasons for jumping in front of that grenade were rather fatalistic, but it was still noble. So in my opinion, you’re a good man.”

If he hadn’t been so baffled, he might have started crying. As it was, Eugene was in too much shock to do anything other than stammer a thick “thank you” that felt like talking through wool.

Satisfied her message had gotten through to him, Rapunzel patted his knee. “Now enlighten something for me; what made you and Lance decide to run away?”

A grin twitched at Eugene’s lips; this wasn’t such a bad story to tell. “There was this book in the orphanage that I would read to the younger kids. A dashing hero that would go off on grand adventures around the world, fighting monsters and hunting for treasure. And I guess, being kids with nothing, that just sounded like the better option to Lance and me.”

Rapunzel giggled, “Aww, little Eugene doing story time! I would have loved to see that.”

“I was good at it! Those kids will never hear a story told like that ever again. I turned Flynnigan Rider into the most amazing hero they ever heard about.”

“Wait, Flynnigan Rider?”

“Yeah?”

Rapunzel’s eyes lit up even brighter, “I have that book!”

Eugene’s jaw dropped, “You mean here? With you?”

“Back in my quarters, yeah!”

“Can—can you bring it by later? I’d love to read it again.”

“I‘ll do you one better,” she slipped her arm around his, careful enough not to make his skin burn—although his stomach certainly did, “We’ll read it together tonight. That way I can get a taste of this show-stopping talent of yours.”

Eugene flashed his best charismatic grin, not that it did anything for Rapunzel except make her roll her eyes, “Your socks are gonna be blown off, I can tell you that. I’m going to turn this stuffy tent into forests of Corona.”

“Oh really? My, such confidence in your own abilities!”

“Please, if I can make the dingy rooms of Vardaros Home for Orphan children even remotely exciting, this place isn’t gonna be a problem.”

Rapunzel stiffened like a board, eyes wide. “Did you just say you grew up in Vardaros?”

“Yeah?” Why would that be surprising? There were a number of orphanages in Rome, it wasn’t like…

An image of a particular apartment building looming outside the orphanage windows flashed through his memory, “There’s no way…were you in the Tower apartments?”

“Take a wild guess.”

The pair dissolved into fits of laughter. A lifetime in the same city, barely separated by a street, and it took going to France in the middle of a war to find each other. It seemed fate found odd ways to work its magic.

The fall of evening found Rapunzel curled up on the edge of Eugene’s cot, propping open the old book so he could weave her a story from the pages.

“‘No can do, my lady. You see the kingdom and I aren’t exactly sympatico at the moment, so I won’t be taking you anywhere!’”

Rapunzel barked a laugh before clamping a hand over her mouth; it was already late, and the other residents of the small tent wouldn’t appreciate the impromptu entertainment, no matter how well Eugene told the story.

“You think it’s funny now, just wait until I can use my arms again. There’s a load of acting you’re missing out on here,”

Rapunzel swallowed her giggles, “Then I guess we’ll have to set a date for another reading night soon, won’t we?”

“Uh, speaking of which…” he’d procrastinated popping the question all day, and now the conversation had handed him the most perfect segue he could ask for. If he was looking for the opportune moment, this was it. “What would you say to letting me take you on your first date? Once I’m out of here, of course.”

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow, “About time you asked, you dork.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“With all your weird questions earlier today, I kinda figured you were dying to ask me! I can’t believe it took you this long, Fitzherbert!”

He stuck his tongue out at her, “Don’t flatter yourself, Sunshine. Maybe I wasn’t _dying_ to ask you out.”

“….were you?”

“Yeah.”

She ruffled his hair, causing a pleasant hum to go through Eugene’s chest that took all his willpower not to vocalize. “‘Sunshine’, where did that nickname come from? I kinda like it.”

“Then I’ll make sure it sticks, _Sunshine,_ ” he grinned up at her, finding her already returning with her own heavenly smile. “So, anything in particular you would want to do on your first date ever?”

Her nose scrunched up in thought, “I’ve always wanted to go see the floating lanterns in Cordes-sur-Ciel.”

“That’s not too far from here. By what I hear they send off the lanterns every Friday, and what a coincidence that I happen to have this upcoming Friday off. Provided my nurse considers me well enough to go by then.”

Rapunzel tapped her chin in thought, “I think she’ll be confident enough to let you off the hook.”

Eugene couldn’t help but smile like a fool, “It’s a date then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Freckle 35” is a reference to the amazing fic Do You Know? By eugeneismyqueen. ^-^
> 
> A little bit of my personal family history in this chapter! My grandmother was from Rome, NY, so I thought it would be fun to throw that in! The story about polio is also something that actually happened way back in my family history, so that’s a fun fact.


	3. Chapter 3

_Dear Eugene,  
I know you tried three times that night  
Believe me, I was trying too_

Eugene uncovered his hands from Rapunzel’s eyes, “Aaaaand, voila!”  
To his immense satisfaction, she gasped so loud passerbys stopped and stared. And as they should; she was the most lovely sight to behold that night. Eugene had never seen the lanterns from the hilltop city himself, but he had no doubt that Rapunzel would manage to outshine them all in her lavender chiffon dress, even hidden as it was beneath her coat. It wasn’t an ornate dress by any means, but its simple class, paired with the soft curls at the end of her brunette locks, spoke of effortless elegance.

“Eugene!” Rapunzel whirled around to him, “It’s even more beautiful than I imagined!”

“Then don’t look at me,” he took her shoulders and turned her back to the cream-white lamp-lit streets, “Look at _that._ ”

For what was probably the first time in his life, he didn’t care for someone to admire him. Yes, he had snapped at someone when they didn’t free up the showers fast enough, spent the better part of an hour styling his hair to absolute perfection, and picked every microscopic molecule of lint free from his uniform; but he could hardly care when the sight before them made Rapunzel smile so wide.

Flowers of every make imaginable poured from windows and littered the cobblestone streets with their blossoms. The slightest breeze sent petals and myriad fragrances to tickle at the senses. Even the people seemed like blossoms themselves among the bounty of spring as they alighted through the streets arrayed in diverse colors and fabrics. For one night, it was possible to believe that the war was far from their piece of heaven.

The _tok_ of two more sets of shoes sounded on the cobblestone behind them, “I think I hear the band already playing in the plaza,” Cassandra commented.

“Do you have the ears of a fruit bat?!” Lance sniped at his arranged date.

“No,” Cassandra shot him an icy grey glare, “I’m just observant, unlike _some._ ”

Eugene almost barked at the pair to quit their bickering, but Rapunzel’s giggle betrayed her lack of concern. So why make it an issue? That bell-like sound could calm Eugene even in his steeliest of moods.

As much as he loved Lance—and tolerated Cass—Eugene would have greatly preferred for it to just be him and Rapunzel tonight. But Rapunzel had been so excited to hear her sister also had Friday free that she begged Eugene to find Cass a date. And considering the many favors Lance owed Eugene, he had no excuse to refuse. Cass, on the other hand, had every right to duck out of the date and spend a pleasant evening in the barracks by herself, but it seemed even the Ice Queen was not immune to Rapunzel’s pleading.

“The band’s playing?! Then what are we waiting for!” Rapunzel snatched Eugene’s hand, “Come on!” With that warning, she took off down the winding street at a dead sprint, Eugene tripping to keep up with her.

“How are you running in heels?!” He managed to pant out as Rapunzel skidded them around a corner.

Whatever response she was about to give died in her mouth when she screeched to a sudden halt, causing Eugene to crash into her. She didn’t seem to care, however, as her eyes were fixated on the plaza before them. The band was certainly playing, and the dancing already in full swing. The glow of lamps illuminated the square, as did the smell of fresh baked goods.

“Oh ho ho, is that the delectable scent of eclairs I detect?” Lance hummed, scaring Eugene half out of his skin.

“The he—How did you keep up?!”

Cass, standing beside her date, fluffed out her burgundy dress, “I’ve spent a lifetime keeping up with Raps; it’s not that hard unless you’re an _old man,_ ” she grinned smugly at the last jab.

Eugene glowered at her, greatly regretting letting Rapunzel tell her sister his real age, “Har har, you’re such a laugh-riot.”

“So, Eugene!” Lance butted between the bickering pair, “What say you? Should we treat these fine ladies to some French cuisine?”

“What kind of money you got?” Cass prodded.

“Enough to split a macaron between the two of us,”

Eugene stifled a snort and fished his wallet from his pocket, “I’ll spot you; just make sure to pay me back this time. What do you guys want?” He turned the question to Rapunzel, only to find her still entranced by the lively plaza. “Uh…Rapunzel?”

She jumped out of her trance with a yelp, “Oh sorry! What did you say?”

“What do you wanna get food-wise?” Cass clarified, “Eugene’s flipping the bill.”

“Aww, he is?” Rapunzel straightened Eugene’s tie, “Why, such a gentleman.”

Eugene’s knees turned to jelly at her touch, “Just don’t make me go broke, guys.”

The couples wove their way in between residents and visitors to the sweet-smelling pastry stand nearby. The overloaded assortment of delights proved far more time-consuming to sort through than anticipated, between both Lance’s intense scrutiny and criticism of every good to Rapunzel becoming positively overwhelmed with the sheer volume of pastries she’d never even heard of. Eugene ended up caving and buying her four different kinds for her to sample at her leisure.

“No, Eugene! You don’t have to!” Rapunzel pleaded, “I’ll choose one, I swear!”

He waved a dismissive hand, having already given the cash to the seller, “Hey don’t worry about it. You’ve never tried any of these, and I certainly don’t have the palate to tell you which ones are best.” Eugene took the paper bag filled with their spoils and gave the man a quick “merci.”

Rapunzel’s guilty look melted into a lip-biting smile that Eugene had to avoid looking at or he’d drop the bag right there, “Thank you, Eugene.” Before he knew what was happening, she hopped on her toes and pecked his cheek.

The engine in his brain backfired, “Um…you’re…welcome…” The evening had barely started and he was already falling to pieces; how was he going to manage the rest of the night without fainting at her feet? It was simply by instinct that he started to follow her to one of the metal-frame tables at the side of the plaza. But not before he glanced over his shoulder to Lance—now arguing with the patisserie in rapid French—and Cass who mouthed _save me._

Eugene answered her plea with a self-satisfied grin. She was on her own now, because _so help him_ he was going to have alone time with Rapunzel on her first date ever.

The pair dug through the goodies, although Eugene was more than happy to watch Rapunzel relish each new experience—or gag as the case was with the rhubarb tart they had mistaken for strawberry. At some point Lance and Cass had finally joined them at the next table, Lance having decided on a tiny macaron that took him far too long to eat.

“So, you have a favorite?” Eugene inquired.

Rapunzel perused over the wrappings as though she could conjure up a second serving of each, “The eclair was good, although I love the way the macaron crunches.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” he chuckled. “They all taste good enough to me. Except the rhubarb.”

Rapunzel pointed an accusatory finger at the left-over pastry, “ _Except_ the rhubarb.”

“Are you not going to finish that?” Lance interjected. “I would just love the taste of some French country-side rhubarb, with those flaky buttery—”

“Nope, nope, nope,” Cass snatched the pastry and stuffed it in her mouth. “We are not going through that again,” she protested through a mouthful of rhubarb.

Just as Eugene and Rapunzel fell apart with laughter, the band struck up a particularly lively number that perked up everyone in the vicinity.

To their surprise, Cass was the first to stand, “Okay, I’ll dance for _Sing Sing Sing._ Come on, Lance. You’re my date, so you’re obligated.”

Lance rolled his eyes with an audible groan, “As the mademoiselle demands…”

Eugene watched the pair shuffle off to the center of the plaza where the festivities rang in full swing. Obviously, this was the next step to a perfect evening. He stood and held out a hand for his lady fair, “May I have this dance?”

A flush came across Rapunzel’s cheeks, “Oh…I…I don’t really know how to dance…”

“That’s okay, just follow my lead,” he gave her a quick wink, “I’ll take it slow, I promise.”

She eyed his proffered hand a moment longer before shuffing off her coat. Finally accepting his hand, despite her knees wobbling, Rapunzel followed him to the edge of the dance floor.

Eugene had to admit, his own legs felt rather weak as well but for a completely different reason. Which reason only accelerated as he slipped a hand around her back. “Swing’s not so bad,” he assured her, speaking up slightly over the blaring trombones from the bandstand. “I do most of the work, you just have to let me throw you around.”

She stiffened under his hand, “Say what?!”

“Sorry! Bad choice of words! Just ah…here, let me show you the basic step.”

Eugene wasn’t terribly adept at dancing himself, but he knew enough to at least teach her the rock-step, which she picked up on faster than expected. The song wasn’t even over by the time she was comfortable with being spun and dipped at his choosing. The next song bled in without the pair having to miss a beat.

By the third song, Rapunzel had only stepped on his feet a handful of times. However, the eleventh or twelfth time Eugene didn’t catch his wince fast enough to keep her from noticing.

“Shoot! I did it again, I’m so sorry!”

“You’re fine! It’s really not that bad, you’ve got small feet and I’m wearing combat boots.”

She pursed her lips, “But it still hurt.”

“I swear, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,”

Rapunzel groaned aloud, “It’s these stupid shoes! I don’t wear heels! No one should dance in heels!”

“Then how should you?!”

Before he could blink she slipped off the shoes and tossed them to the table, “Barefoot!” With a laugh she spun back into his arms and dragged him to the center of the dance floor, “Much better!”

Eugene knew a stupid smile was plastered on his face, but he could hardly care. He’d been so concerned with making sure she had a perfect first date, he didn’t even consider that _she_ would be the one making this the best evening of his life. All cares were thrown to wind as Eugene gave himself over the complete ecstasy of having her in his arms.

The band must have played a dozen more numbers, Rapunzel just as energetic with each one now that her feet were free of the treacherous heels. By the time the band set their instruments down and the crowd gave their applause, Eugene was wheezing with every breath.

Rapunzel, however, although rather red in the cheeks, looked ready for another round, “Aww already? That wasn’t possibly long enough—” She finally noticed Eugene’s considerable exhaustion and rolled her eyes with a chuckle, “Come on, let’s sit you down.”

She led him back over the table, where Eugene promptly flopped into the delicate metal chair. Rapunzel leaned up against the wall behind him, a mischievous grin plucking at her cheeks.

“Okay,” Eugene started between heavy breaths, “What’s that look for?”

“Oh, I just know how easy it would be to go for your ticklish spot right now,”

“Don’t even try it,”

“Or what?”

He cast her a frustrated, if not still playful, scowl, “I’ll come up with something once I can think straight. Don’t you wanna sit down?”

Rapunzel shook her head, “Nah, if I do, I know the pins and needles will start, and then you’ll have to carry me back to base.”

 _That wouldn’t be the end of the world,_ he thought with a rush. It took a great amount of self-control to not sweep her into his arms right there, if for no other reason than to make her laugh and blush even more.

“No,” Rapunzel continued, “Enough days in the medic tent have taught me that if you’re feeling tired, you better stay on your feet. Otherwise you won’t get back up.”

“Fair point,” Eugene hoisted himself up on his still-wobbly legs, “I better get up so you don’t have to drag _me_ back through the mud.”

“You think I couldn’t carry you? Look at these guns!” Rapunzel made a show of flexing her biceps.

“Those are pea shooters,”

She smacked his shoulder with a smirk, “Shut up,”

The pair held each other’s gaze for a long moment. Words were not always needed between them; Eugene had found an odd comfort in the silences that would pass during their conversations. He didn’t need to perform around Rapunzel; she wasn’t expecting anything from him. She was content to let him be as he was without him having to fill the space or justify his existence.

“Thank you,” her voice was soft, but not a whisper, “For asking and taking me out. This has been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

“Don’t speak too soon; the date’s hardly over yet,” Eugene couldn’t resist stepping closer to her, “I…I have to thank you too, Rapunzel,” her name came like a prayer on his lips.

“For what?”

By all that was holy, she was beautiful. Eugene set his elbow on the wall above to lean over her. He wanted to frame her in that moment, where he could easily gaze into her eyes that were filled with something indescribable and thrilling. _“Everything,”_ He sighed the word on a breath that he didn’t know had been locked in his chest.

Her smile sweetened, “You’re welcome, Eugene.”

It took all his willpower to not declare his undying love right then and there.

…Love.

He loved her.

Heaven help him, he loved her more than he could comprehend.

The stars danced in her perfect green eyes. He had never been more tempted to kiss anyone than he was at that exact moment. She was so close, her head tilted up perfectly to match his. He almost believed she was lifting up on her toes just as he leaned down to meet her…

“Raps! Fitzherbert!” The call cut through the heavenly fog, sending a thrill of annoyance through every nerve in his body. Cassandra couldn’t have waited _thirty more seconds???_

“They’re about to start sending off the lanterns!” Cass called, either oblivious to or ignoring what she had just interrupted.

Rapunzel’s eyes lit up like the Fourth of July, so despite having the most perfect kiss in human history ruined, Eugene let his annoyance go. “Come on Eugene!” For the third time that night, Rapunzel took his hand and dragged him with her.

Around the corner the plaza opened up to a wide grassy null. The dancers now mingled among the softly glowing light of unreleased paper lanterns.

Lance swooped in beside Eugene, “Can you spot me again? These lanterns cost a pretty penny.”

Eugene rolled his eyes, “Fine, but I’m only getting one for you and Cass, so learn to share.”

Rapunzel squeezed Eugene’s hand, which with a start he realized she hadn’t only not let go, but had entwined her fingers with his. “I promise, next date I won’t make you spend so much money.”

 _Next date???_ “It’s no problem, really,” Eugene stammered, handing a few coins to Lance to get the man to just _go away,_ “You’re worth it.”

Maybe it was the dim light, but he could have sworn her cheeks turned the deepest pink he’d ever seen. That victory parade with trombones and confetti was blaring in his brain again. _She wants another date!!!_ “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he somehow managed to form words in a coherent string, “I still have to finish the perfect _first_ date for you.”

The paper lanterns did cost quite a pretty penny, but seeing how Rapunzel’s awestruck eyes gleamed in the golden glow tempted Eugene to buy a dozen more until he was bankrupt just to illuminate her.

A gentleman called for the lanterns to be prepared, perking up Rapunzel’s attention from the candle flickering in her palm. “Cass! Get over here!” Rapunzel darted off in the opposite direction to a small raised landing bordered by a low white wall adorned with a sweeping trellis covered in blooming ivy. Cass, having claimed the lantern she and Lance were to “share”, joined her sister on the landing, leaning her elbows on the low wall.

Rapunzel waved over Eugene, “You too, silly! Can’t very well send this off alone!”

Lance grumbled beside Eugene, triggering a snicker from him. “So I take it the sharing didn’t go well?”

“Shut up.”

Eugene approached the wall, feeling a little like a beggar receiving an alm. Rapunzel practically radiated a heavenly glow, a small star in her own universe. The trellis bound to the alabaster wall trailed its ivy over her head to trail delicate white flowers like a crown. She turned her smile to him and offered out the lantern. He took the offer, joining his hands beneath hers.

The same man in the center of the throng announced the send off of the lanterns. As one the crowd released their lights with a gentle nudge. A gentle breeze tickled the air, taking the man-made stars off into the night sky. Hushed exclamations of wonder rippled among them; Eugene couldn’t resist his own breath of fascination at the sight. He had heard of the city above the clouds and its stars ever since coming to the base just outside of Cordes-sur-ciels, but had never imagined the description to be quite so literal. Gazing out over the low forest disappearing into the fog, lanterns now twinkling in the distance, it was easy to imagine this must be what Heaven looked like.

Soft applause broke the silence, and with it the sound of strings and saxophones playing slow jazz to send off the evening. Lance and Cass wandered off among the dancers, searching perhaps for refreshment or simply space from one another, but Eugene stayed below Rapunzel still on the landing. She gazed at the drifting lights a moment longer before turning her gaze down to him.

“What are you staring at?” She teased, smirking.

“Am I?” He teased back. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Rapunzel booped his nose with a giggle. She was leaning over the wall, curled up along the flowering trellis like a picture-book fairy princess. It wasn’t hard to imagine glorious airy wings in the dim lights from the surrounding buildings. Her hand reached out and brushed a lock of Eugene’s hair back into the meticulous swoop. He had to resist his natural instinct to sigh with pleasure at the touch of her fingers to his brow.

Fate had handed him another perfect moment. So perfect, it was like a dream. All he had to do was take a step closer…reach up the trellis to where she waited, lips parted just so…

“Eugene!”

Eugene mentally bashed his head against the alabaster wall. He whirled around to see Lance traipsing across the grass, his gait showing a complete unawareness for what he had just interpreted.

“Lance,” Eugene seethed through gritted teeth so Rapunzel wouldn’t hear from her position just above him, “What could you _possibly_ want that _couldn’t wait??_ ”

Lance cocked an eyebrow, “I was just gonna tell you two that the band’s starting back up.”

“Yeah, I gathered,” Eugene did his very best to shoot daggers with his eyes.

Lance glanced back and forth between Rapunzel and Eugene a few times before his eyes widened and jaw dropped, “Ohhhh,” he whispered, “Were you about to—?”

“ _Yeah._ We _were._ ”

“Ah,” Lance gave him a wink and backed up, “I’ll leave you to it.”

 _The moment’s kind of RUINED,_ Eugene groaned to himself. Maybe he and Rapunzel should have just left; a moonlit walk back to camp surely had to offer a romantic moment or two. And it would mean leaving behind Lance and Cass, which idea was more than welcome at this point.

“Oh I love this song!” Rapunzel’s voice cut through his thoughts.

A tenor vocalist had started an old standard that Eugene easily recognized. Rapunzel closed her eyes and began to sway to the sound of saxophones drifting through the air. That wonderfully fuzzy sensation filled Eugene’s core again. They could stay a little longer.

Eugene reached up and took her hand. Rapunzel opened her eyes to Eugene leading her around the stone banister and down the short steps.The warmest gaze filled her eyes that locked Eugene’s with an iron hold he hoped she would never release him from. The world faded around them as he led her out to the grass where couples swayed with the music. He slipped a hand around her waist and felt a thrill as she shivered under his touch. Holding her so, Eugene led Rapunzel in her first slow dance.

He thought he imagined it at first; a lovely little hum began in his head, until he realized it was Rapunzel humming the lilting notes. Eugene pulled her a little closer until their bodies were barely brushing, such that he could incline his head to her ear.

 _“Stars fading but I linger on dear,”_ he sang low, _“Still craving your kiss,”_

He felt her sigh in his arms as she wrapped her free arm around his neck, _“I’m longing to linger till dawn dear,”_ he continued, _“Just saying this...”_

Her angelic voice joined his. Had he known how purely divine the sound of her music was, he would have asked her to sing ages ago. Of course her voice was like gold; everything about her was gold.

 _“Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you,”_ Rapunzel’s breath tickled at his neck, _“Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you,_

_But in your dreams, whatever they be,_

_Dream a little dream of me..._

Eugene wasn’t sure when their voices dropped off to let the music envelope them. His heart was overflowing too much to vocalize any longer. All he could do was hold her closer—perhaps a little more that propriety would normally allow a gentleman to in public, but he hardly cared if anyone saw. It was now or never. He brushed a lock of her hair back. Rapunzel followed his hand until she met his eyes. Even as Eugene closed the distance between them and her eyes fluttered shut, he kept his open just to behold her until the last moment.

A shadow just beyond the glow of the grassy square flickered in his peripheral vision. His eyes glanced briefly, but the sight held his attention. Two hulking figures lingered in the shadows; even in the dim light he could see an eyepatch on one.

Ice trickled down his spine.

“Eugene?” Rapunzel’s face was still upturned expectantly, “What’s wrong?” She noticed his line of sight and began to follow it.

Eugene grasped her shoulders with a death-grip. Maybe they hadn’t seen her; maybe he could get her out undetected. “We need to find Lance and Cass.”

Eugene wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hurried her across the grass; Lance’s broad build was easy to spot. He elbowed past the last few dancers to get to their friends. Thankfully, Cass was already by Lance.

Eugene handed Rapunzel off to her sister, “Take Rapunzel back to camp. Now.”

Cass only needed to study his eyes for a split second to know what he meant. Rapunzel’s safety was of utmost importance. She shouldered her bag and Rapunzel’s, “Come on, Raps.”

Eugene locked eyes with Lance and nodded his head in the direction of the lingering figures in the darkness. Lance’s confusion dropped to recognition. He nodded in agreement.

Rapunzel snatched Eugene’s hand just as he turned to bee-line for the men, “Wait—Eugene! What’s—”

“Rapunzel,” he prayed she saw the fear in his eyes, “Please. Get back to base.”

He slipped from her grasp—a heart-rending task—and followed after Lance before she could protest further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE MARACONS SHUT UP


	4. Chapter 4

_Dear Eugene,  
My answer will always be yes_

“CAPTAIN!!!”

Eugene’s voice broke with the scream. His foot slipped in the mud—the rain now coming in sheets—but he couldn’t stop. He scrambled back up and kept pace with Lance.

_“CAPTAIN!!!”_

The light in the captain’s quarters flipped on, and a moment later the dazed and annoyed mustached man threw open his door. “Fitzherbert! What in the blazes—”

“SPIES!! The Stabbingtons are spies!!” Eugene and Lance skidded to a panting halt. Rain filled his open mouth, requiring him to spit into the mud before continuing. “They’re spies, and they’re targeting Alsace!”

The captain’s eyes widened in shock, “Get inside.”

Less than ten minutes later, the captain was rubbing his forehead at the intel. “Go get yourselves fixed up, then report back here. We’ll be shipping out before dawn.”

Eugene and Lance saluted their captain and took their leave. The rain still poured heavy outside, but soldiers were already starting to gather outside the captain’s quarters. As Eugene and Lance stepped into the night, questions began pelting almost as fiercely as the rain.

“What’s going on?” “What did the captain say?” “The Stabbingtons are spies?”

Eugene swallowed hard; exhaustion was starting to catch up with him and answering questions wasn’t exactly what he needed his energy for at the moment.

Lance came to his rescue. “We’re shipping out by morning; the captain’s going to call everyone soon, so you better start packing.”

Exclamations rippled through the men. Pandemonium immediately seized the crowd as men ran to and from barracks spreading the word.

“Probably wasn’t the smartest solution,” Eugene grumbled.

“No, but it got them off our backs. I can take a lecture from the captain. I don’t really give a d— right now,”

Eugene agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment. The rest of their path to the medic tent was taken in silence, as both men needed a mental relief from the general panic.

Eugene had not expected the choke that seized his throat as he pushed back the tarp to the tent. His life had made a drastic change in so short a time within its walls, and now he would never see it again. Never see…

He couldn’t dwell on that now. Lance tossed him a rag and a bottle of alcohol. Eugene set to dabbing at the cuts and scrapes along his face and neck; he needed the burn to distract his mind.

When he had gone to confront the Stabbingtons, he had assumed it would be to keep them from harassing Rapunzel. What he had not expected to see was a trade-off from the Stabbingtons with enemy soldiers resulting in a chase that Eugene and Lance barely escaped from by the skin of their teeth. He had always thought something was off about the Stabbingtons; just not treason and espionage.

Lance heaved a massive sigh, “I know we’re probably gonna be called soon but...I kinda need to take a walk. Clear my head a bit. Wanna come?”

Eugene took a heavy seat on one of the cots, “No, you go ahead. I...I think I need some time alone.”

Lance nodded, “I hear you. I’ll see you in a minute, buddy.” Lance headed back out towards the pouring night.

“Lance,” Eugene called, “....thank you.”

Lance gave a half-hearted grin, “Glad you saw something.” With a final nod, Lance left the tent.

Eugene dropped his head to his hands. He knew he should have been more worried about the prospect of shipping out to an active war zone, but all he could think about was the idiot he had been all evening.

 _What was that stupid ‘Everything’ line even supposed to mean? Why did I try to kiss her so many times, instead of just telling her?_ Now he would never see her again and too many things had been left unsaid.

Maybe he could find her before the captain called them, Eugene pondered. But no, that would mean waking her up. Eugene groaned aloud at his own muddled brain, trying desperately to release all the frustration directed at only himself. He had told himself not to get attached. Shipping out had always been a possibility in the middle of a war, and yet he had dared to imagine a future beyond this camp with her. It served him right to be so thoroughly taught the reality of the world he lived in.

With a jolt the front tarp of the tent shoved aside. In the entrance stood a drenched Rapunzel, out of breath, the hem of her lavender dress covered in mud, and dripping a puddle on the floor.

To Eugene, she had never been so beautiful.

——

_Earlier_

“Cass?” Rapunzel sat rocking herself on her bunk, “Do you think they’ll be back soon?” As much as she had tried to focus on the rain pelting the window, it had failed miserably as a distraction. She had resigned herself to fretting herself sick.

Cass sighed—not her frustrated sigh, which Rapunzel knew well, but one that spoke of a deeper concern. “I don’t know, Raps,” she answered for the hundredth time that night. Cass leaned over her bunk to look at her sister. “But I’m sure they’re okay. Lance is built like a brick wall, and Eugene’s nimble. They can’t be in any trouble.”

“Then why would you bring up Lance’s build and Eugene’s dexterity, if not because you think they might be in some kind of trouble?!” Rapunzel bit her nail hard enough to tear it down to the skin, not that she particularly noticed the sting.

Cass pursed her lips, “You got me there.”

“It’s just,” Rapunzel tucked her hand under her dress—having not changed from the date—to remove the temptation to bite at those pesky nails, “Everything was so amazing, and then he looked like he’d seen a ghost or something! I tell you Cass, the look on his face...something scared him. Bad.”

“Uuuuggh….” A moan sounded from the nearby bunks. One of the other nurses popped her head up from the pillow, “Are you _still_ talking about your date with Fitzherbert? Come on, it couldn’t have been that great, give it a rest already.” The girl scoffed before settling back on the pillow, “Besides, what could _you_ possibly offer a guy like Fitzherbert?”

“Oh _no_ you did not!” Cass swung down from the bunk and landed in a hunch like she was about to punch the next thing that got too close. “You wanna go b—? Let’s go.” She jabbed a finger in Rapunzel’s direction, nearly poking her nose. “This girl here had the most magical, romantic night anyone has ever had in the history of ever. You could only _dream_ of having half the night she had with Fitzherbert, but guess what? He would never touch your promiscuous butt in a million years, even if you _paid_ him to.”

Heads had started to pop up over blankets and bunks throughout the tent, intrigued by the late-night squabble.

“I mean,” Cass continued, becoming increasingly animated, “he did the wall-lean thing!”

Faith gasped from a few bunks over, “He did the lean??”

“He did the _lean!_ ” Cass repeated. Several of the women exchanged jaw-dropped glances, excitement gleaming despite their tired eyes. “So yeah, don’t you dare try to get on my sister’s case if she wants to ramble about her date with Fitzherbert, unless you want a knuckle sandwich.”

A very long, uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Rapunzel could only gape at Cass, unsure whether to be disturbed, disappointed, upset, or incredibly proud of her sister.

Faith was the first to break, “He did the lean??”

Rapunzel snapped from her dazed confusion to complete euphoria, “He did!! No joke, Eugene put his arm on the wall right above me and I _swear_ I thought he was about to kiss me! He was so close! But then Cass _stopped_ it for some reason!” Rapunzel shot her sister a playful glare.

“Because that patisserie guy was giving you two the creepiest look,” Cass defended. “Besides, that just built the tension for later, right?”

“What later? He never kissed me!”

One of the other girls bolted upright, “You mean he didn’t try again?!”

Rapunzel blushed at the memories now flooding back, “Oh he did. _Twice._ Once while I was up on a little landing and once while we were dancing.”

“He didn’t kiss you while you were dancing?” Cass questioned. “I thought he did!”

“No!” Rapunzel whined. “That was the closest one! We were just about to—I mean my eyes were closed and everything—but…” her heart seized up suddenly. “But...he must have seen something…”

Cass kneeled in front of Rapunzel and took her sister’s face in her hands, “Hey, it’s gonna be alright. You still had an amazing night. I’m sure you two will just laugh this all—”

_“CAPTAIN!!!”_

Rapunzel’s blood froze; she knew Eugene’s voice. She darted to the window, followed closely by the rush of a dozen other women scrambling for slippers and bed-robes.

A familiar figure darted past—nearly tripping in the mud—closely followed by another Rapunzel recognized.

“CAPTAIN!!! Spies! The Stabbingtons are spies!” The pair disappeared around the corner of the captain’s lodgings and out of sight of the window.

Someone screamed; shouts and exclamations rippled through the women. Soldiers began pouring out of nearby barracks despite the rain.

Rapunzel made a bolt for the door.

Cass snatched her sister’s arm before she could grab the knob. “Woah! You’re gonna get sick out there! Just wait until they come back! There’s no point catching your death of cold waiting for an hour out in the rain!”

 _Screw the rain!!!_ Rapunzel wanted to yell, but Cassandra’s grip on her arm was too strong to break from. Instead, Rapunzel resigned herself to plopping on the floor by the door. Cass sighed—her frustrated sigh this time—and grabbed a blanket from the bed to drape over Rapunzel’s shoulders. “Just don’t run out there barefoot at least.”

Frantic chattering continued among the women. It all was white noise to Rapunzel; her own thoughts were too scrambled to make out what anyone else was saying. Snippets punctuated the cloud over her mid, but not enough to form anything intelligible.

“Stabbingtons”... “Alsace” … “Shipping out by morning—”

Rapunzel’s head snapped up, “What did you say?”

The woman in question glanced over her shoulder, “Strongbow said that apparently the captain’s having all the men ship out before dawn.”

Rapunzel scrambled to her feet, heart beating a mile a minute, “When did they come out?!”

“I dunno, ten...fifteen minutes ago?”

How long had she been zoned out? Rapunzel threw open the door before Cassandra could stop her, diving into the rain with only the wool blanket over her head.

She nearly slid in the mud as she wove between the panicked men still running back and forth among the barracks. Where was he? Why hadn’t he come for her?!

A broad man lurked in the shadows beyond the bustle. “Lance!” She dashed through the rain, kicking up mud across her nylons and dress.

“Rapunzel,” Lance snapped to attention, although his eyes still drifted as though in a haze. “I’m sorry, it seems we woke up the entire camp, didn’t we?”

“What’s this about shipping out? Where’s Eugene?” Rapunzel couldn’t waste time on pleasantries.

Lance’s gaze dropped to the ground, “There’s going to be an attack right outside Alsace. A lot of people are in danger. The intel we got from the Stabbingtons should give us enough of a head start to get there in time to meet enemy troops.”

 _Enemy troops…_ “You’re...you’re going to…”

“To an active zone,” Lance nodded dismally. “It’s not that different. Out here you never know when you might run into them. This time we’re just a little more prepared.” Despite his assurance, nothing in Lance’s face spoke to any amount of confidence in the mission.

“What…” Rapunzel swallowed hard, “What are you expecting to find?”

Lance pursed his lips, “Not sure exactly, but enough that it won’t be pretty.”

She knew he was sugar-coating. The shuffling in his feet, the droop in his shoulders; Lance was preparing himself for something all soldiers in the line of fire must face.

Bile churned in her stomach, “Where is he?” She could barely whisper the question.

Lance made half a gesture down the muddy thoroughfare, “Medic tent. Fixing up some cuts and bruises.”

She didn’t bother with a thank you; Rapunzel was already sprinting like her life depended on it. Or like _his_ life depended on it.

The rain pounded harder against her; it was nearly impossible to see. Her foot sank into a puddle, sucking her shoe off with a loud schlorp. She ripped off the other one and threw it without a second thought; she could run better barefoot anyways. The blanket slipped from her fingers as well, falling somewhere in the mud behind her. She couldn’t stop now; couldn’t slow down, not with the tent in sight.

Rapunzel threw aside the tarp entrance. Eugene’s head lifted from his hands and locked eyes with her. A scrape marred his cheek, and a thin cut traced over the bridge of his nose. Every aspect of his face burned into her memory like a branding iron. It was impossible to tear away her gaze, even as she stood panting, muddy, and dripping a puddle.

Eugene bit his lip and tried to smile, “Sorry, I guess I kinda ruined your first date.”

She couldn’t think straight; in two steps Rapunzel crossed the floor and fell into the embrace he was already running to envelope her in.

Eugene was shipping out on a mission, a mission that could very easily mean his life. She was plenty familiar with how little he valued his own life over others; his chances were already plummeting lower than the rest of the soldiers. A horrifying image of Eugene bandaged and bloodied with the tell-tale white sheet being pulled over his face flashed through her mind’s eye. Rapunzel gripped his jacket tighter. That couldn’t happen; maybe if she believed hard enough she could will such a probable reality out of existence. He couldn’t die, not when he still had so much to live for. Not when she still had so much to say.

“Eugene—” her voice cracked painfully on his name, “Eugene I—I have to tell you something...” _D— it! Just get it out!_

Eugene tightened his nearly crushing-hold. “Hey hey,” he soothed, “It’s okay. Just breathe.”

That really wasn’t possible at the moment. Rapunzel gulped for air between her sobs, “No, Eugene, I—”

He shushed her again, beginning to rock her gently, “Deep breaths. I’m not going anywhere just yet.”

Rapunzel sniffled and buried her face into his shoulder, “You will…”

“But not right now,” he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Right now...right now, I’m here,” he whispered the phrase such that it sounded more for himself than for her.

Rapunzel forced herself to take a shuddering breath. She choked back another sob, which seemed to halt the flood that had been engulfing her. Emotions still ran high, but at least her thoughts were arranging themselves so she could comprehend them properly.

Eugene was capable and smart; he wouldn’t throw his life around recklessly. She couldn’t ask him to not help others, though. That would be like asking him to stop breathing. He would do more than his part, but he wouldn’t jump off a bridge just because someone asked him to. This mission wasn’t a death-sentence.

But he still might not come back; that was still a reality she had to accept. If he didn’t come back...it wasn’t like there wasn’t anything to live for...he would still want her to find happiness, explore the world…

No, that was too much to consider. Actually envisioning a future without Eugene brightening the way was a future she refused to accept until the time came.

 _No, not “until”,_ she reminded herself, _Unless. Unless the time comes, I won’t consider that._ All she needed to think about was right here and now; Eugene’s arms around her, the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath her cheek, the pleasant warmth of his breath against her skin.

“I love you,” she said the words before she could reconsider.

Every muscle in his body tensed, “Rapunzel? What—”

“I love you, Eugene,”

He held his breath for a long moment, then a shuddering laugh that shook his entire frame escaped him, “I—Rapunzel…I love you. I love you so much.”

His voice trembled with such sincerity Rapunzel’s tears nearly returned. The only thing that stopped them was…. No, her joy was too much to contain. She let the tears fall over her lashes.

Eugene’s heart was beating impossibly fast against her chest, but then so was hers. He pulled away just enough to brush a hand along her jaw. There was such anxiety to the movement Rapunzel felt her own nerves tense involuntarily. Despite the intensity in his eyes, he still paused and waited for her permission.

She knew only one way to give it; Rapunzel dug her hands into his hair and forced the distance closed between them to finally press her lips to his. Eugene didn’t waste time returning with ferocity that took her breath away. But he could have it; he could have it all so long as he just stayed with her.

Maybe she hadn’t imagined her first kiss being so messy; or passionate; or desperate; but she just needed him to _stay._

Her only consolation was that Eugene’s desperation matched—possibly even outstripped—her own. His body shook against her; or maybe it was her own shaking, she couldn’t tell anymore. With every kiss he gripped her closer, his hands trailing from her hair to her waist and back as though he was trying to memorize how she felt in his arms. Like he never would have the chance again.

Rapunzel pushed the thought away. No, he would come back; she would have him back. She would see him smile again, hear his rich baritone laughter, look into his mahogany eyes, touch his impossibly soft brown locks, feel him in her arms, taste his sweetness again, _he would come back._

Rapunzel’s feet nearly left the ground as Eugene grasped her so tightly he took all her weight to him. “Rapunzel,” he murmured against her lips, “Rapunzel,” he pulled back just enough to look into her eyes so deeply she could swear he was reading her very soul. “If I come back, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she didn’t need even a second to ponder her answer, “Yes, yes, _yes,_ just come back,” She kissed him as deep as she possibly dared, a kiss Eugene refused to let go.

Time became meaningless. The pair lingered in their lip-locked embrace until the need for air forced them apart. Even then, neither was willing to let go, opting to stay cuddled in each other’s arms. His wool jacket smelled of rain and grass, and something else distinctly _Eugene._ Something soft and natural like a mossy forest in the morning. Rapunzel took a deep breath of the scent. Perhaps it would burn itself into her memory and she could call it back at will.

A bugle blared through the camp. Terror seized Rapunzel; this was it. An involuntary tremor rattled her limbs as Eugene’s arms slid from her. Part of her wished he wouldn’t hold her gaze the way he did, like he was bartering away part of his soul to the devil itself. Why did he have to look at her like that? Why couldn’t he just hold her until everything went away?

The muscles in his cheeks tensed as he clenched his jaw. He let out a quick breath and made for the exit; a man on a mission.

No; he wasn’t leaving like that. Not like a nameless, faceless soldier among thousands.

 _“Eugene,”_ Rapunzel snatched his hand and yanked him back to her arms.

Before he could protest, she planted one last kiss to his lips. A sound of shock escaped him before she felt his lashes flutter shut against her nose and his hands buried in her hair once more.

It was far too short a kiss before the bugle blew again. Eugene was the one to break them apart, ever the dutiful soldier. But not before whispering _“I love you”_ against her lips, then pressing a final kiss to her hands.

Without a tempting glance back, Eugene turned and strode from the tent. Rapunzel stood watching him disappear into the darkness of the rainy night. She fell to her knees and let the tears spill. She would cry until she had no more left to give.


	5. Chapter 5

_Dear Eugene,  
Where are you?_

April 16th, 1945

Five months. 

That was hardly anything. Five months. 

He shouldn’t complain. 

Eugene clenched the paper closer to his chest, as though he could absorb the words and feel her with him. Most men had been separated from their sweethearts far longer than him, and certainly did not receive nearly the number of letters he did. Five months...what did he have to complain about? 

_Plenty,_ he wanted to scream out. 

The attack on Alsace had been more of a stand-off in the last few months, as the enemy had evidently not planned on opposing forces coming so soon. There had been a few fights here and there, but nothing devastating. 

At least, in comparison to the rest of the war. So their commanding officers told them. Not that it helped. 

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. The few skirmishes that had broken out caused enough concern to keep the soldiers constantly on their toes. Eugene shuddered at the memories of fire fights amid what were once sleepy countryside villages. Had it only been the soldiers under attack, perhaps the fear would not be running so high. However, when bullets were being shot past innocent civilians—older folks, families, _children_ —it was difficult to not feel a constant anxiety. Difficult not to remember the terror in the little girl’s eyes as Eugene snatched her from the hailstorm of bullets. Difficult not to hear her screams as people she knew were gunned down before her young eyes. 

Eugene did his best to leave all of that out of his letters to Rapunzel. She wanted—and needed—to know the truth, but he could downplay it for her sake. She already knew perfectly well the horrors of war; he didn’t need to reiterate any of that. So, he remained mildly descriptive of events and focused instead on sending her affirmations of his hope and love. 

Well...that wasn’t entirely true. At least with one letter. The night after rescuing the child, a breakdown had been impossible for Eugene to hold back. Sequestered away from his fellow soldiers, each of them shocked and numb from the death they had witnessed on that cloudless day, Eugene had penned what he had considered a final letter to Rapunzel. 

It had been a perfect summer day—he’d never seen such a blue sky. The kind of blue where all the colors of the world seem brighter; sounds are crisper; the air is fresher. 

The red more vivid. 

All he could see was red. Red, red, _red._ He’d seen red before. He’d seen so much red in this war. So much red in that white tent. So much red on mine-covered fields. Why then, did the red sear his eyes so painfully on that blue day? 

Perhaps because at one time, Eugene had not cared if red was the last thing he saw. His nightly visions had usually been of red stains ushering in a much-anticipated death. 

But now a different sight filled his dreams; a white, angelic sight. Perhaps that was why seeing red again had driven him to tears he hadn’t cried in years. 

So, through the sobs he had written a rather fatalistic letter to Rapunzel. She was everything he had ever wanted, and he prayed he wouldn’t have to leave her. But should fate decide his time was up, she would be his last thought. He begged her to move on quickly, to continue finding her life and her dream. She had so much to live for and had inspired him to find more; but if he couldn’t live that dream with her she had no reason to be held back by his death. At least, that was how he hoped it sounded. If the letter was even legible through the tears that smudged his frantically scrawled ink. 

The letter she sent in response was enough to carry him back from the brink like a ship back to shore: _“I won’t just dream of you, you _are_ my dream. Life will always move on, no matter who lives or dies. But the life I want is with you. The dream I have needs you by my side, or it wouldn’t be the same dream. I have every reason to fight for that dream.”_

Her faith, hope, and reassurance; that was what he needed more than anything. Knowing that amid all this insanity, she would remain a constant. As constant as a star—no, the sun. Her faith in a better future—a dream to live for—was the sunlight he needed to guide him through the darkness. His nickname for her had not been at random; Rapunzel was the sunshine in Eugene’s life.

That letter had traveled in his pocket for days before he began to feel a tad guilty for leaving behind Rapunzel’s other equally-important letters. But the sheer volume of letters sent by his Sunshine was impossible to reasonably carry in his pocket. Maybe he didn’t need the entirety of the letters, he had realized. Just the best drops of sunlight.

Of course, what qualified as “the best” parts was a long-fought debate, but he managed to narrow down to a reasonable few. Then, with the most careful precision, he had torn phrases and short paragraphs from each letter to deposit in a small draw-string pouch. That pouch he kept on his person at all times. And with each new letter new drops of sunlight were added to keep his heart burning bright.

Eugene glanced down at the most recent letter in his grasp. As always, it was going to be difficult to decide what parts of this letter he could keep and what had to be sacrificed. He let his head fall back on his bed roll. It was tempting to just close his eyes and forget the headache beginning to stir in his skull. But he needed to take apart the letter soon, considering that he never knew when they would have to jump back into action.

Back into the red.

Eugene snapped upright and locked his eyes back on the white paper, desperate to chase the visions from his mind. Which parts, which parts, _which parts?_

Oddly enough, the most innocuous of phrases caught his attention: _“Dear Eugene,”_ the same opening to each letter. Why did those two words hold him so firmly this time? Something about the pull of the ink across the paper; something about the particular intention behind the curve of each letter. Somehow, her heart spoke a little more clearly with those two words.

_Dear Eugene..._ He felt a smile etch across his lips despite himself. He could almost hear her say it. This was it. This was the phrase worth saving. With incredible precision Eugene freed the two words from the letter. Fishing the pouch from his pocket, he place the slip with the others.

Just as he lingered to gaze at the treasure trove of papers in the small pouch, shouts and a flurry of footsteps through the open-air camp snapped him out of his daze.

Lance bounded through the piled bedrolls to him with an expression that seized Eugene’s throat, “We’re—“

Eugene was already on his feet, stuffing the pouch back into his pocket. He didn’t need an explanation.

Back into the red.

——

“Another rag! We’re losing him!”

Rapunzel snatched the white cloth Cass handed her and stuffed it against the soldier’s abdomen. The shrapnel still stuck in him cut at her hands, but they were already so slick with red it hardly mattered.

Finally someone put the tools she had been demanding in her line of sight for her to take; she didn’t bother with a thank you before grabbing them and setting to work on removing the shards of metal. The soldier whimpered as she prodded at the open wound; at least that meant he was still alive.

Piece after piece was placed into the tray held out for her. As she dropped the last jagged scrap in with one hand, the other took the sutures offered her. Rapunzel’s fingers flew to secure the gash. One stitch...two stitch...three—

His body went limp under her hands. Rapunzel dared to look up; sure enough, the poor soldier’s eyes had gone glassy and vacant. Cass put a finger to his wrist.

__

She shook her head.

__

Rapunzel let out the air in her lungs. Taking off her gloves and setting her tools set aside, all that was left was to carry the white sheet over the soldier’s face.

__

“Fifth one already,” she mumbled once the shroud had settled over his still features.

__

Cass set to cleaning the left-over gore staining the station, “I have a feeling there’s a lot more coming today.”

__

Rapunzel knew that perfectly well, but it still made her queasy. She hardly ever learned the names of her patients anymore; it was just a mad rush to save one life, and regardless of victory or failure it was on to the next one. Three years and she still wasn’t used to it.

__

Ever since Eugene and the others shipped out, the fighting in France had worsened significantly. Apparently the attack they had been called out for was only a precursor to the ever-mounting horrors. The war always had its ebbs and flows of calmer periods and outright carnage. This was simply another flow. Or so she tried to tell herself.

__

Rapunzel wiped a hand across her brow. The summer heat was building rapidly, making the medic tent that much more unbearable among the various wails and moans from dying men. Frankly, an odd part of her was glad she and Eugene had met so long ago. Had she met him now, it surely would have been to a much more severe injury that she may not have been able to bring him back from.

__

She averted her eyes from the white-covered form in front of her. Every time a soldier died under her hands, Rapunzel’s mind made its way back to Eugene and whether or not he was shrouded by his own white cloth.

__

She pushed the image from her mind yet again. She couldn’t dwell on that thought now, not when there were others right here who needed her help to live.

__

The next soldier needed an amputation; disgusting but tolerable to Rapunzel since it meant he would live to see another day. Another soldier only had broken bones, so despite being in considerable pain nothing was fatal. Another was already gone by the time she got to him. Rapunzel dropped the white cloth over him and moved on as devoid of emotion as she could force herself to be.

__

She crossed to the next station where she found a sobbing Faith. Rapunzel’s lack of emotion failed; she darted to Faith’s side like a mother hen, “Faith? What’s wrong?”

__

Faith turned to Rapunzel, clutching her stomach in one hand while covering her mouth with the other, both to hold both back sobs and something much more unpleasant, “I’m sorry,” she whimpered, “I don’t know why I can’t handle it—”

__

Rapunzel wrapped her arms around the young girl. She felt for Faith’s situation; she had been the girl’s age when she started, but had not been asked to endure nearly the horrors Faith was facing daily. Rapunzel had had the opportunity to ease her way into the carnage; Faith was dumped with a bucket of blood.

__

Rapunzel stroked Faith’s hair, “It’s okay that you can’t handle it; really, no one should have to. You’re normal. We’ve just become so desensitized to it.” She wiped a tear from Faith’s cheek. “Go splash your face with cold water and then come find me. I know some men you can attend to that shouldn’t be too bad. I’ll take your other patients.”

__

“No, don’t—I can—”

__

“No, you can’t; not like that at least,”

__

Faith understood the stern look in Rapunzel’s eyes. She nodded frantically and darted from the tent.

__

With the girl taken care of, Rapunzel turned to the patient Faith had been tending to.

__

...Oh.

__

No wonder she had nearly lost her lunch.

__

Rapunzel gulped back the bile in her throat. She had never seen an infection get quite that bad before. The man’s leg didn’t look like human flesh anymore. She fought back the shudder in her spine and kneeled next to the soldier. “Sir? Are you awake?”

__

The man moaned but nodded.

__

Rapunzel’s mouth felt horribly dry; she hated delivering this news when they were awake. But it also wasn’t pleasant if they just woke up to it without knowing, “Sir, I am so sorry but...we’re going to have to amputate your leg.”

__

There was a long pause as the soldier comprehended the idea. His face scrunched up in anguish and pitiful sobs spilled from him. His cries sounded so like a small child, Rapunzel had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from breaking down in tears herself.

__

It didn’t take long before the man was relieved of his rotting leg and sent into an induced sleep to circumvent the pain. And, if Rapunzel was being completely honest, to keep him docile while the other patients were still being attended to.

__

Dusk came; night fell; dawn rose. Rapunzel still ran from man to man to fight off death’s scythe with each one. She would have loved the relief of a few patients with non-fatal injuries, but ever since Faith had taken those men she was functioning at a respectable pace. Rapunzel had to admit, the young girl’s soft-spoken nature incurred a certain meekness from men who otherwise would have been complaining far too much for the minor injuries they had sustained.

__

As Rapunzel was changing the wrappings on a badly burned soldier—trying desperately not to remember the man she had become so adept at wrapping bandages for—a hand on her shoulder snapped her from her working trance.

__

Cass took the bundle of gauze from Rapunzel’s hand, “You need to sleep. I’ll take care of this.”

__

Rapunzel wanted to protest, but she didn’t even have the mental capacity to form words. She relinquished her position to her sister. As she shuffled from the tent, she thought she heard Cass berating the soldier for complaining about being stuck with her instead of “the cute one.” Rapunzel wanted to laugh, but even that would have eaten up valuable energy she needed to make it back to her bunk.

__

The smell of the mess hall perked her senses. A pang in her stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten in far too long. Despite the burning in her feet, they nevertheless led her to the kitchens where breakfast was being served. Rapunzel found a seat at a small lonely bench in the back of the open-air tent that served as the cafeteria. In minutes she had devoured the meal; her taste buds hardly had a chance to register the rhubarb mixed into the oatmeal.

__

A grin twitched at her lip. Eugene would have been dumbfounded to see her eat rhubarb without gagging. She could easily envision him sitting across from her, wide-eyed with a dripping spoon halfway to his mouth. _Sunshine?! Do you have any idea what you just ate?! Because if I tell you and you upchuck, I’m not gonna be a happy camper._ Rapunzel managed to chuckle at the thought despite her exhaustion. But it was a nice thought; Eugene sitting across from her...or by her side...her head on his shoulder…

__

Something shook Rapunzel vigorously. She lifted her head from where it had plopped on the wooden bench.

__

“Uh...Miss Rapunzel?” A dark-haired, freckled boy craned his neck to meet her blurry eyes.

__

Rapunzel rubbed the sleep from them as best she could. The boy couldn’t have been over eighteen; although judging by the roundness of his cheeks she would have easily believed he was no more than fourteen.

__

Seeing she was more awake, the young man snapped to attention. Rapunzel bit back a giggle; his uniform hardly fit him properly. “Miss, I have been asked to bring you to see the captain. If you would follow me, please.”

__

“Sure, sure,” Rapunzel stifled a yawn. “Just...help me get up, would you?”

__

“O—oh, of course!” He offered his arm for her to take. Under the heavy uniform, he was surprisingly scrawny. Rapunzel also noted how he was not much taller than her diminutive 5’1” stature.

__

“Might I ask the name of my gentleman escort?” Rapunzel asked as he led her through the camp.

__

“Varian, miss.”

__

“Varian...I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”

__

His cheeks flushed with a sheepish smile, “Well, I only just started. I barely turned eighteen a month ago.”

__

“A month ago?” Rapunzel furrowed her brow, “And they already deployed you overseas?” She assumed he was American, judging from the hint of Brooklyn in his delivery.

__

Varian’s eyes snapped wide, “Uh—um...well…”

__

_Ah,_ the truth dawned on Rapunzel, _he’s one of those that lied about their age._ She patted the arm she still held, “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

__

The tension dropped from his face and a very puppy-esque excitement filled his eyes, “Thank you, miss.”

__

“Please, just call me Rapunzel.”

__

“Oh! Alright, Rapunzel. Thank you.”

__

Rapunzel heart twisted; she didn’t want to be condoning such a young boy sneaking off to the military. Not with the state of the war now. He was so inexperienced. She silently prayed that he wouldn’t end up on one of the cots with anything more than a fever.

__

“So, Varian,” Rapunzel cleared the lump from her throat. “Tell me about yourself.”

__

“Uh well…” Varian scratched his mess of hair poking out from under his uniform cap. In the dappled morning light playing through the swaying trees, Rapunzel noticed a streak of grayish hair among the black locks. Odd, but certainly memorable. “My father is a mechanic; I’ve been his apprentice most of my life. A weird accident when I was a kid got me my first premature gray hairs.” He gestured to the streak.

__

“I was just noticing that,” Rapunzel commented. “But don’t worry; I think it makes you that much more interesting.”

__

He grinned so wide she could see the gap in his front teeth; he was certainly a handsome boy. He might be Faith’s type. “I imagine a charming young man such as yourself might have a sweetheart waiting for him back home?”

__

Varian’s bright blue eyes practically erupted with fireworks, “Her name is Catalina and she gave me her handkerchief before I left!” He patted his breast pocket proudly. “We’re not technically an item, but she said she’d wait for me!”

__

Rapunzel’s heart warmed with delight, “Aww, she must be darling to make you so excited!”

__

His red cheeks reddened even more, “She really is; if I had a picture I’d show you. She’s got long red hair, big green eyes; a lot like yours, mi—Rapunzel!” He caught himself with a fluster.

__

Rapunzel giggled, “Well, I hope you’ve been writing Catalina. She’ll want to hear from her brave soldier, no doubt.”

__

“Every chance I get!”

__

A pang hit Rapunzel like a frying pan to the face. She had been waiting to hear from her own brave soldier for a while now. Eugene didn’t have nearly the time to write that she did, which Rapunzel understood just fine. Quite honestly, she probably sent him too many letters, but she had to fill the space with something other than gnawing fear. At least when she was writing it felt like she was talking to him. Especially if one of Eugene’s letters was open beside her so she could respond directly to his sweet words of devotion. His letters may have been short, but every line was a glorious treasure to her.

__

“Rapunzel?” Varian prodded gently, “We’re here now.”

__

Rapunzel looked to see the captain’s open tent in front of her. She released Varian’s arm with a grateful pat, “Thank you, Varian. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

__

Varian tipped his cap. “You too, Rapunzel. I hope to see you again soon.”

__

An icy hand clenched her heart, “Just...yes, yes I hope so.” _Just don’t let it be on a cot..._

__

The boy repositioned his cap and headed back into camp with a skip in his step. _Please don’t let poor Catalina be in my position,_ Rapunzel prayed again. She had been sending up a lot of prayers recently; maybe one of them would be answered soon.

__

Rapunzel knocked on one of the supporting poles as she crossed the threshold of the tent, “Captain?”

__

The man looked up from his papers, “Ah, Miss Rapunzel. Good.” He set aside the papers and held out a hand for her.

__

Rapunzel shook it in greeting, “There was something you wished to speak with me about?”

__

The captain let out a dejected sigh, “Yes, there is. Normally this information would not be relevant to anyone outside of immediate family. But I was informed you were a fiancée, which I feel falls within the realm of pertinence.”

__

Rapunzel’s breath hitched. He could only be referring to Eugene. That white cloth flashed through her mind again. “Has something happened to Eu—to Fitzherbert, sir?”

__

He nodded, “I’m afraid so.”

__

_Please no,_

__

“His company…” The captain shook his head morosely, “His company is MIA.”

__

The world shifted under her feet.

__

“They were holding ground outside of Alsace when their reports stopped showing. We could assume the battle was lost and a number of them were taken as POWs, but until we have concrete evidence of that—enough to know which soldiers were taken—they are officially MIA.”

__

Rapunzel white-knuckled her fists to prevent the shaking, “The soldiers that wouldn’t have been taken as prisoners; what would have happened to them?”

__

The captain met her eyes; she knew perfectly well what happened to those soldiers, but she needed to hear it from him.

__

“Unless they escaped...they were executed.”

__

She nearly threw up in her mouth. Rapunzel nodded, “Thank you for telling me, sir.”

__

“I apologize that it couldn’t be better—”

__

She didn’t want to hear it. She was already out of the tent and running; sprinting; escaping from her worst nightmare.

__

She skidded into the nurses’ tent and collapsed to the dirt. Her head was spinning; air wasn’t filling her lungs.

__

Eugene’s death had been a scenario she prepared for many times. Rapunzel had rehearsed the event in her head nearly every day for five months. But not knowing was worse; so much worse.

__

Maybe he was already dead and burning in a German ditch; maybe he was beaten and bruised in a prison camp; maybe he was running for his life. There were too many options; too many possibilities; she couldn’t prepare for every single one. One scenario was painful enough; countless options left her mind warped and hazy.

__

“Raps?” Cass’s footsteps came up behind her sister. “Hey Raps, I just heard, I’m so sorry—”

__

Rapunzel swatted away the hand reaching out to comfort her, “I’m fine, Cassandra.” Her voice sounded hard and foreign even to her own ears; not that she could care.

__

Cass furrowed her brow at the uncharacteristic response, “Rapunzel, if you need to talk about—”

__

“I _don’t—_ ” Rapunzel bit her tongue to keep from yelling. “I don’t want to talk about it. So just drop it.”

__

“Raps—”

__

“I said, _drop it,_ ” Rapunzel leapt to her feet and darted into the thoroughfare. There was only one course of action; back to work. Keep men alive. Don’t think about the endlessly possible horrors that might become reality.

__

Because if she did, she might truly lose her mind.

__


	6. Chapter 6

_Dear Eugene,  
Please, come home_

The men shuffled into the open field surrounded by barbed wire serving as their prison. Eugene held his place behind Lance, feeling rigid.

He should have been glad; he was one of the lucky ones. The execution of his fellow soldiers played on a loop through his mind. He was alive; he should be glad.

Shouldn’t he? Eugene went over the events again and again. Maybe he should have stepped in their place; maybe he could have saved one soldier. Isn’t that the kind of man he should be? The kind of man _she_ would want him to be?

But that kind of man was also a dead man, and a dead man serves no use to others. Or her. As fatalistic as he may have been at one time, Rapunzel’s letters had convinced him to be otherwise.

 _Fatalistic,_ he thought, rather disconnected, _I do seem to like that five-dollar college word._

Eugene shuffled up to the soldier checking over the prisoners. He didn’t have any weapons or tool on him that could be of use, but he raised his arms nonetheless and let the man pat him down. There was no use in stirring up trouble now.

The soldier pulled something from Eugene’s pocket, “And what do we have here?”

Eugene turned to see what the man held, finding to his horror the drawstring pouch, “Don’t touch that!”

The soldier only laughed and pulled it open, “What’s this? Love notes from your little miss?” He rifled through the papers, sending several scattering across the ground. Eugene dove for the scraps.

“HEY!” The soldier raised his stick, “Back in line.”

Eugene raised his hands in surrender, still on his knees. It was okay, he assured himself, it was just those few papers.

The soldier pulled out a strip, “ _That first spring evening, you called me an angel…_ ” a crooked smile etched across the man’s face, “ _How I wish I could be yours now._ ” A ripple of chuckles went through the surrounding men. “Very sweet of her,” the man sneered.

Eugene’s heart stopped in his throat; hearing her words come out of his captor’s mouth filled him with a sensation of rage beyond words, “Stop that.”

The soldier ignored him, “What’s this one? _‘I won’t forget my promise, please don’t forget yours.’_ My, so tender!” He kneeled down in front of Eugene to meet his eye. “What did you promise? Hm?”

Eugene clenched his jaw, “I said stop.”

“What about this one? _‘I know you tried three times that night. Believe me I was trying too,’_ ” More than one soldier ooh-ed and wiggled an eyebrow. “Oh my, what were you trying? Something a little too saucy? She sounds like one of your loose American girls.”

“Shut. Up.” _They’re just trying to get a rise out of you,_ Eugene reminded himself. Still, anyone daring to sully Rapunzel’s reputation was headed for a flat nose. Eugene took a deep breath, his teeth grinding harder.

“So many little papers in here,” The soldier dug his fingers through the bag. “Quite honestly, this is becoming a bit concerning. You really shouldn’t be so hung up on this girl. She’s not going to wait, you know. She’s probably found some other soldier to please her already.”

Eugene’s muscles tightened so much it was almost painful. Not that he cared. The soldier may not have seen, but the stare Eugene fixed on him would have made the man think twice before taking another slip of paper from the pouch. As it was, the man dared to pull out one more.

“What’s this here? _‘My answer will always be yes.’_ ” He dropped his jaw in a mocking gasp of wonder. “Why, you proposed to the little miss! She’s a fiancée!” The soldier settled himself a little more comfortably, biting his tongue in apparent amusement. “Tell me,” he patted Eugene cheek, “Do you think she’s waiting for you? Do you think she remembers you? Because if she does, perhaps I will find her and tell her of your unfortunate situation. And if she’s really so sweet, perhaps I’ll get a taste myself…”

The spring in Eugene’s gut snapped. He lunged for the pouch.

A crack sounded and blinding white pain erupted in his ribs. Eugene collapsed on himself with a cry

An officer stood over him, readying the butt of his rifle for another beating. He struck the wound again, making Eugene yelp again.

Eugene struggled to breathe. Somewhere amid the ringing in his ears he heard Lance call out, but that seemed a separate reality. All he could feel was the grass and dirt beneath his cheek and fire burning his side.

“Get him up,” the officer’s voice was muffled but distinct enough. “Stop holding up the line.”

A familiar grip hooked under Eugene’s arms and lifted him to his barely functioning feet, “Come on,” Lance said in his ear. “One step at a time.”

“The...the letters,” Eugene wheezed. He turned over his shoulder—a nauseating move—to find the soldier toss the pouch into the grass. The papers scattered from the bag and became caught in a low wind. The last he saw was their white specks disappearing into the fog.

“They don’t matter now,” Lance assured him. “Just stay awake and stay focused.” Lance lowered Eugene to the ground, propping him up on one of the tree stumps littered through the field.

“No...the letters...Rapunzel—”

“Rapunzel’s not going anywhere, and neither are you.”

Eugene wanted to protest more, but speaking was becoming increasingly difficult as the burning spread from his ribs through his lungs. They weren’t just letters; they were pieces of her. Pieces of pure sunshine, snippets of hope. They were her, “I just...I just need one…” He screwed his eyes shut against the throbbing in his head—and side.

“Hey hey, don’t do that,” Lance patted at Eugene’s face, coaxing his friend to stay aware. “Here, look,” Lance held something up to his eyes. “I managed to grab one when I picked you up.”

Eugene managed a grimace of a smile, “Thanks, buddy.”

Lance's voice softened, “Anything for my buddy.”

“What...what does it say?”

Lance took back the paper from Eugene’s limited line of sight, “ _I won’t just dream of you; you_ are _my dream._ ” He heard Lance sigh with wonder, “That’s really beautiful.”

Eugene’s smile twitched a little wider, “It’s because of our song,” he coughed harshly on the last word.

“Yeah?” Lance set a hand on Eugene’s back for support while the fit passed. “What’s your song?”

Eugene swallowed hard; he could practically hear his ribs scraping, “Dream a Little Dream of Me.”

“Ahh...from when you two danced after the lanterns?”

“Yeah...that…” Eugene bit back the scream in his gut, “I just need to close my eyes for a second…”

“What are you gonna do when you see her again?” Lance gripped Eugene’s shoulder hard enough to jolt him back to reality with an agonizing lurch. “Come on, I know you’ve already planned it out.”

He knew exactly what Lance was doing; keeping his mind on Rapunzel to prevent him from slipping into unconsciousness. Eugene hated to admit it, but it was effective. Of course he had planned their reunion; it was all he had thought about for the last five months, “I’m gonna marry her. As soon as we get off that boat in New York, I’m going to marry her. I’m going to sweep her off her feet and carry her to the nearest chapel and marry her right there.”

“What’ll she be wearing?”

Eugene swallowed hard and tasted blood. Another shot of pain stabbed at his ribs and rang through his skull, “I don’t know, probably whatever she’ll be wearing on the boat that day.” Blackness gathered at the edge of his vision...

“ _No,_ ” Lance shoved Eugene back upright, “No, I know you’ve pictured this a thousand times. What would you _want_ her to be wearing?”

“Maybe”— he hurt so much—“Maybe that dress from our date? The purple one?”

Lance scoffed, “Come on, no one gets married in purple. What do you think she should wear the day you marry her?”

What _should_ she wear? If he could picture her in anything, what would it be? “White lace. Flowers in her hair. A pearl necklace I can put on her myself.” He risked a single chuckle that scraped his bones, “She’d want to be barefoot. But that’s okay; I’ll carry her the whole way.”

Maybe it was delirium, but he could picture it so vividly. Her small frame adorned in delicate white, tiny blossoms crowning her brunette locks, her green eyes shining like jewels above a heavenly smile.

A lump filled his throat, but not from the pain. “I love her,” Eugene’s jaw began to tremble. “I love her so much, Lance. I love her.”

Lance’s arm wrapped around Eugene’s shoulders, his voice low, “I know you do. I know.”

A choked sob escaped Eugene; his ribs screamed, but he couldn’t hold it back. The tears spilled from his eyes and nothing could stop it. He would cry until he had no tears left to give.


	7. Chapter 7

_Dear Eugene,  
I love you_

May 7th, 1945. 

It was over.

Finally, it was all over.

Rapunzel still struggled to wrap her mind around the concept. It was so sudden, so quiet, so unlike the nightmare they had been living. As though someone had snapped their fingers and awoken them from a deep hypnosis, it was over.

The truck bumped along the road; nurses had been called from all over to come help relieve soldiers rescued from prison camps. It made for a cramped trip, with more people stuffed in the line of vehicles than their carrying capacity usually dictated. But as it signaled the end of the war, and the promise of home hung in the air, no one cared to complain.

Rapunzel had already started to formulate her next letter to Eugene in her head. She couldn’t send them, but that wouldn’t stop her from writing them. He would find it funny how queasy Cass had been the entire trip, and maybe dealing with the soldiers would yield her some more humorous stories to lighten his mood, wherever he may be.

_Unless that’s on a cot with a white—_

Rapunzel shook her head. No, she couldn’t think about that now. She couldn’t risk another breakdown when people needed her. Emotionless; machine-like; her survival tactic. She couldn’t allow herself to dwell on him. Not even as their truck sped to a base close to Alsace, the last place she knew he had been.

As soon as the truck screeched to a stop in the camp, several head nurses bustled about giving instructions and orders to the newcomers. It seemed a large group of men had been recovered from one of the nearby prison camps.

Rapunzel’s gut flipped. _Maybe he…_

Again, she snapped herself from the fantasy. Such a sentiment was a long-shot, and would only slow her down right now. Emotionless; survival-mode.

Rapunzel hoisted her bag and followed the direction the nurse had pointed her in. Cass trudged at her heels, still recovering from the bumpy trip.

“Are we in the same tent?” Rapunzel asked her sister.

“Guh...yeah, I guess so...” Cass swallowed back a burp of discomfort. “Let me tell you, I’d rather be dealing with trench-rot than sitting in that truck a second longer.”

“Don’t speak too soon; we don’t know what we’ll find in there.”

The sisters ducked into the tent, finding several nurses already running about. This must have been one of the better maintained camps, Rapunzel mused. Most of the stations had curtains, not that many were currently drawn. She headed for one man in her assigned section who seemed to be griping about a gash in his arm. A swab of alcohol and the man was well enough for Rapunzel to continue about. She allowed a quick glance to the other side of the tent where Cass was stationed, glad to see her sister over her upset stomach.

Just as Rapunzel examined a soldier’s black-and-blue wrist, Cass darted to her side. “How about we switch? I’ll take your guys, you take mine.”

Rapunzel cocked an eyebrow at her sister’s odd behavior, “It doesn’t matter, I got it.”

Cass grabbed Rapunzel’s arm, “I really think you should take my stations.”

“...are you okay, Cass? Did that truck get to your head?”

Cass rolled her eyes and shoved Rapunzel to the other set of cots. “Just do it.”

Rapunzel glanced over the men, noting how many were hardly injured and several induced to sleep. “Cass, there’s nothing to do—”

“Yeah there is,” Cass waved on her sister, already working on a splint for the man’s wrist. “The one with the curtains drawn, he needs something.”

“What?”

“Go find out.”

“Okay, weirdo,” Rapunzel returned the eye roll. Cass could be so hard to understand sometimes.

Rapunzel made a quick perusal of the other soldiers to be certain they didn’t need her assistance. Aside from one who begged for a glass of water, the men were otherwise docile. She handed the refreshing glass to the man and eyed the curtained station. Cass hadn’t seemed too concerned, but drawn curtains usually left her a bit suspicious. Curtains wouldn’t be drawn unless there was something to hide. Rapunzel gripped her medic bag tighter in one hand and pushed back the heavy cloth.

Her bag dropped.

The shock in his eyes as he opened them matched her own, “Rapunzel?”

_“Eugene,”_

A second was all it took to go to his side and take his face in her shaking hands. He struggled to breathe right as he blinked again and again, pouring over her face.

“Am—am I dead?

She couldn’t find the words to correct him, only, _“Eugene.”_ Her lips crashed into his, and that seemed to answer everything he needed to know.

“It’s you—Sunshine—it’s _you!”_ Eugene gasped out the words between fervent kisses. Rapunzel couldn’t agree more with the sentiment. His arms blindly searched for her until he pulled her up on the cot with him. Rapunzel welcomed the chance to wrap herself around him like nothing else in the world existed but the feel of his hair in her fingers and that distinctly Eugene scent filling her every breath.

There was a mutual agreement to just never stop kissing the other, even through all the words pouring out of them. So long as they were in each other’s arms, their lips would express love in all the ways their words fell short.

“The moment we land in New York,” _kiss,_ “I want to marry you,” _kiss,_ “I want to find the closest chapel,” _kiss,_ “and marry you right there.”

“Yes,” _kiss,_ “Yes, please,” _kiss,_ “ _Yes._ ”

“And then,” he kissed her once more and pulled away enough to meet her eyes. “We’re going to find your real family. I swear, I don’t care if it takes a lifetime, we’re going to find your parents.”

Tears of laughter spilled from Rapunzel from the overwhelming sensation of loving him more and more every second. “Okay, but first, _marry me,_ ” she locked her lips to his again in the longest, deepest kiss either could muster until their lungs finally gave out.

Rapunzel separated from Eugene—hot, flustered, and panting but grinning like an idiot, “Faith has a white dress; I can use hers when we get married.”

Eugene matched her goofy grin, his mahogany eyes shining, “I want to get you a pearl necklace, too. And flowers for your hair.”

“Eugene, you don’t have to,”

He gave her the biggest, sincerest, most pure puppy-dog eyes she’d ever seen, “But I _want_ to,”

How could she say no to that? If she didn’t kiss him again soon, she feared she might start crying. And that just wouldn’t do at a time so absolutely perfect. So she lowered her lips to his again, leaning into his sturdy and reassuring form.

For some odd reason, he winced under her lips.

“Oh, shoot!!” Rapunzel tore herself from Eugene, much to his wide-eyed confusion. “You’re hurt! What’s wrong? Did I—”

He had the audacity to laugh, “I’m fine, really. Just a couple broken ribs.”

“Broken _what?!_ ” Rapunzel flailed to get off of his lap. “Why didn’t you say something?!”

“Oh come on!” Eugene grasped for her, but she was already out of reach at the end of the cot, and he couldn’t lean forward terribly far with his wrappings. “I’m fine! It’s nothing! You weren’t even pressing on my ribs that hard!”

“‘That hard’...honestly, your lack of self-preservation is going to make me go prematurely grey,”

“I bet you twenty bucks you’d still be drop-dead gorgeous,”

“Don’t try to flatter me when I’m annoyed with you,” Rapunzel bit the inside of her mouth to keep from grinning. “Although that was really sweet and I really wanna kiss you for it.”

He waggled his eyebrows with a racy smirk, “So what’s stopping you?”

“The fact that you _broke_ your _ribs,_ ” Rapunzel tried to scowl, but she couldn’t keep the concern from her eyes. “How...how did it happen anyways?”

All mirth dropped from Eugene’s face, sudden enough to send a shock through her heart. Rapunzel instinctively crawled back beside him on the cot just to be closer in his time of need.

By reflex Eugene took her hand in his like a lifeline, “I’m so sorry, Rapunzel,” his chin betrayed a slight tremble, “But I lost your letters.”

“Lost...you—you kept them?” Rapunzel was utterly flabbergasted.

Eugene cocked an eyebrow, “Yeah? What’s so weird about that?”

“I honestly thought you would have just thrown them out. I sent you way too many as it was!”

“Are you kidding me?!” Eugene shook his head with a chuckle, “I would never throw them away! I kept every single one! Well, mostly,” he shrugged.

“Mostly?”

“I couldn’t keep a giant stack of letters, so I started tearing out phrases and lines and putting them in a little bag I could carry in my pocket.”

Rapunzel thought she might melt right there on the cot, or maybe just start crying, “Eugene…”

“But…” he gripped her hand tighter, “I kinda lost them all when we were taken prisoner. They were patting us down, and when the guy took the bag I tried to get it back. But all I got was a few broken ribs,” he screwed his eyes shut in shame. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” She whispered.

“Because...they were from you. I don’t know, keeping those letters felt like keeping a part of you with me. And losing them was like leaving you all over again.”

Rapunzel turned Eugene’s down-turned face to hers and pressed a soft and slow kiss to his lips, the kind that pulled a sigh from both. She separated just an inch to brush her nose with his, “You don’t need a letter to have me; I’ll always be with you.”

He turned his face to kiss her palm, “Lance did manage to save one, actually.” He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a tattered slip, no more than half an inch wide and a few inches long. Rapunzel took the paper as carefully as possible, fearing it would fall apart in her hand.

She read the inscription penned in her own hand: _“I won’t just dream of you; you_ are _my dream.”_

Eugene slipped an arm around her waist, “And you are mine,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “You have no idea how much I needed that with me.”

“I might have an inkling,” No matter how many letters Rapunzel had written, just how much she loved him could never be expressed in words. The look in his eyes assured her of his complete lack of capability to express it as well. The only way either could hope to get close was to take the other to them with sweet caresses and gentle kisses. There was no need to fear any more; love could take its time. They had their dream at last.

Even if words could never express it, Rapunzel would never stop trying. Eugene treasured those letters, so she would be sure to replace each one and then some. With another kiss, she began writing the next of many more to come:

_Dear Eugene..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand....I DID IT!!!! I actually finished a multi-chapter fic!!! Hooray hooray!!!  
> Thank you for reading! \T^T/


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